ROBERT GRAVES
ILLUSTRATIONS EDITED BY
ERIC KENNINGTON
MAPS BY
HERRY PERRY
LONDON
JONATHAN CAPE 30 BEDFORD SQUARE
FIRST PUBLISHED IN MCMXXVII
MADE & PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
BY BUTLER & TANNER LTD
FROME AND
LONDON
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| FACING PAGE | |
| LAWRENCE From a bust by ERIC KENNINGTON | [Frontispiece] |
| ‘AIRCRAFTMAN SHAW’ | [48] |
| MAP: THE ARAB AREA | [60] |
| THE EMIR FEISAL | [72] |
| THE EMIR ABDULLA From a drawing by ERIC KENNINGTON | [92] |
| THE VILLAGE OF DATE PALMS | [118] |
| FEISAL’S ARMY ENTERING WEJH | [142] |
| AUDA From a drawing by ERIC KENNINGTON | [156] |
| MAP: THE RIDE TO AKABA | [164] |
| AUDA AND HIS KINSMEN Copyright American Colony Stores, Jerusalem | [178] |
| THE PILGRIM-RAILWAY | [196] |
| AKABA | [212] |
| MAP: LAWRENCE’S RIDES | [226] |
| DEMOLITIONS ON THE RAILWAY | [254] |
| ALI IBN EL HUSSEIN From a drawing by ERIC KENNINGTON | [260] |
| AZRAK | [274] |
| FAHAD OF THE BENI SAKHR From a drawing by ERIC KENNINGTON | [278] |
| ABDULLA EL ZAAGI From a drawing by ERIC KENNINGTON | [298] |
| MAHMAS From a drawing by ERIC KENNINGTON | [308] |
| MULE TRANSPORT NEAR ABA EL LISSAN Copyright French Army Photo. Dept. | [326] |
| MAP: THE CAMPAIGN IN THE NORTH | [336] |
| BUXTON’S MEN BLOWING UP MUDOWWARA STATION | [342] |
| AT GUWEIRA Copyright French Army Photo. Dept. | [346] |
| AN ARMOURED FORD IN THE DESERT Copyright Imperial War Museum | [358] |
| LAWRENCE AND HIS BODYGUARD AT AKABA | [370] |
| FEISAL JUST AFTER HIS MEETING WITH ALLENBY Copyright Imperial War Museum | [386] |
| LAWRENCE AT VERSAILLES | [402] |
| ‘T.E.’ ON ‘BOANERGES,’ THE MOTOR-BICYCLE | [428] |
INTRODUCTION
Early this June I was invited by the publishers to write a book about Lawrence. I replied that I would do so with Lawrence’s consent. Shaw, as I must call him, for he has now taken that name and definitely discarded ‘Lawrence,’ cabled his permission from India, and followed it up with a letter giving me a list of sources for my writing and saying that since a book was intended about him anyway he would prefer it done by me. He thought that I could write a book accurate enough in its facts to discourage further unauthorized accounts and that he could trust me not to spare his own feelings wherever I wished to draw any critical conclusion. And he hoped that the book would have exhausted all public interest by the time that he had finished with the Royal Air Force and returned to civil life.
I have his most generous permission, with that of his trustees, to use copyright material at my discretion—but certain limits were given—both from Revolt in the Desert and from Seven Pillars of Wisdom (of which that is an abridgment), a book that will not be issued for public sale in Shaw’s lifetime. Unfortunately owing to pressure of time my completed typescript could not be submitted to Shaw before publication and I apologize to him for any passages where my discretion has been at fault. I did, however, write and ask him specific questions and sent him rough drafts of nearly all my material. I must, however, draw a clear line between Shaw’s approval of my writing the book if it had to be written, and my own responsibility for the facts and opinions given here.