Lawrence of Arabia Secret Dispatches

FABRIZIO BAGATTI

The full, overly wordy, title of this book is Lawrence of Arabia’s Secret Dispatches During the Arab Revolt of 1915-1919. Starting as an archaeologist, TE Lawrence found himself assigned to the Middle East to report on how the Ottoman Empire was controlling the region. These are his secret dispatches back to Britain, most of which were buried thank to the Official Secrets Act for quite some time.

The introduction is very academic but the dispatches themselves, backed up with maps and Fabrizio’s notes, give a great feeling for the time. They vary from providing perspective on the war in the desert to bringing to life characters you may never have heard of, or customs you never knew about. For any student of Lawrence, this is a fascinating, new resource. ■

• Pen and Sword

• ISBN 978-1-3990-1018-4

• 302 pages • Hardback • £25