From Publishers Weekly Thomas Edward Lawrence's discovery that he was an illegitimate child filled him with deep bitterness and insecurity. As "Lawrence of Arabia," he struggled to achieve a sense of identity and personal worth missing in his boyhood. His homosexual rape by Turkish captors in 1917 scarred him with guilt and shame, making the prospect of consummation in a marriage abhorrent, contends Wilson, official biographer as authorized by the Lawrence estate, who rebuts claims that his subject had homosexual affairs. According to this 1200-page tome, Lawrence was not the benevolent imperialist some critics have made him out to be, but an ardent supporter of Arab self-determination who felt morally degraded by the compromising role the British forced him to play in the Arab revolt against Turkish rule. This sense of debasement, argues Wison, engendered a masochistic disorder that later led Lawrence to enlist in the Royal Air Force. Through its comprehensive amassing of facts and documents, the book credibly replaces the romantic legend of Lawrence with the image of a tragic idealist whose political aims were frustrated by diplomacy. Photos. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

John Mack explores the relationship between Lawrence's inner life and his historically significant actions. Interviews, correspondence, access to War Office dispatches and unpublished letters provide the basis for Macks's investigation of the psychological dimensions of Lawrence's personality. In addition, Mack examines the history, politics, and sociology of the time in order to weigh the real forces with which Lawrence contended and which impinged upon him.

本书记录了T. E.劳伦斯在沙漠中的战争回忆，被公认为“英语文学中最伟大的现代史诗”。第一次世界大战爆发后，劳伦斯毅然放弃考古工作，进入开罗军事情报部，负责中东地区的情报收集及战略建议。当时英军认为，以承诺让阿拉伯人在战后独立为名，使阿拉伯建国主义者与英国站在同一阵线，由内陆起兵反抗统治他们多年的奥斯曼土耳其帝国，将有助于协约国在中东地区取得压倒性胜利。劳伦斯在因缘际会于1916年底成为阿拉伯起义运动领袖之一费萨尔阵营中的英军联络官，也成为巴勒斯坦战役的决定性人物。自此至1918年，劳伦斯巧用机谋，在阿拉伯部落间引燃独立建国的燎原之火，善用阿拉伯部落擅长的游击战略，以及阿拉伯沙漠漫无边际、变化难测的特性，率领三千阿拉伯起义军，神出鬼没，专事破坏土耳其的补给铁路，牵制了五万以上的土耳其正规部队，创下历史上代价最小而获利巨大的战果。

1914年第一次世界大战爆发以后，德国的盟友土耳其趁机侵入阿拉伯半岛，而该地区的各个部族处于一盘散沙的状态，无力抵抗土耳其侵略军。英国军方派了“阿拉伯通”陆军情报军官劳伦斯到那里进行活动。英国在阿拉伯半岛的意图是给阿拉伯人有限的枪支弹药，使其牵制土耳其的兵力，同时将阿拉伯各部族置于自己的控制之下，劳伦斯基本上是按照这一战略采取行动的，但做法上非常讲究策略。他换上阿拉伯人的服装，尽量在生活上接近阿拉伯人，由于突击队屡建战功，威震中东，劳伦斯因此被誉称为“阿拉伯的劳伦斯”。书中描写了劳伦斯以气魄发动的长途奔袭亚喀巴、大马士革土耳其守军的英勇事迹，以及他与阿拉伯枭雄费萨尔王子的友谊等诸多历史细节，突出剖析劳伦斯的丰富的内心世界，特别是他内心对于英帝国中东政策的反抗与挣扎。为了突出劳伦斯的空前也可能是绝后的壮举，作者还以并行线索叙述两位杰出的美国与德国情报人员的努力，实际上是一种对劳伦斯的衬托。 总之，这是一部出色的传记，传主充满魅力，传记本身也文笔优美流畅，情节曲折，而不失真，它是了解一战东线史、英帝国外交政策、中东现代史的钥匙。