As an Armenian I find it difficult to comment dispassionately regarding the Ottoman Empire. So, I will only say this: Seven Pillars of Wisdom is an incredible piece of literature and does so without accounting for the specifics of it's content. It is impossible to read without reflecting, repeatedly, upon what must be the nature of the mind that wrote it. Purely as literature it rather staggers. As one reads on, and now in appreciation of polymathic nature of the author AND main character, everything within now must be seen in that light. That is one HELL of a kink, and I know of no other volume that contains it. Read that book.
What a fantastic documentary with such rare footage and It clears up the whole story of Lawrence in Arabia clarifying many aspects of the story. Thank you so much for sharing this.
There is a relative new book about T.E. Lawrence, 'Lawrence in Arabia', by Scott Anderson, which deals with his early time in the Middle East, the places he went, the people he met, the languages he learned, way before the war, loved it there!! One deals with the Englishmen he got to know who were there already mapping resources, and collecting information on the local populations!!
Lawrence had intended to write a substantial history of the Arab Revolt - including documents, quotes, maps, timelines, etc - but his first draft - including his notes, diaries and documents - were lost or stolen. I lean towards the theory that they were stolen by Meinertzhagen. Instead, he wrote the beautiful and impressionistic memoir that is 7 Pillars. The task of writing that history was left to George Antonius, and it took the British govt twenty years to acknowledge that Antonius's documents and translations from Arabic had even existed and were accurate. Lawrence could have allied himself with Antonius. Instead, he said that Britain had emerged from the Cairo partitioning Conference with "clean hands" and resigned himself to nursing his PTSD while performing useful technical duties as a British enlisted man.
Lawrence is a product of England, a source of much pride for that country. He was way ahead of the time, and if more had his vision then and now, the mid east would not be in the mess it is today.
To Tony L, It was not England. It was the United Kingdom. The British Empire. T.E. Lawrence served in the British Army. Not the English Army. There is a massive difference. There is no evidence of any great pride in England about Mr.TE Lawrence, except for propagada fake pride. Or maybe some Gay Pride. But most of the TE Lawrence legend is Holywood. Not the same thing as real. Being Holywood productions it was likly Zionist Jewish. Not English. So if you know your Zionist history. Then you may know of their actions in the USA and the UK during the so called 'Great War'. Mr.Lawrence was approached after the Arab ideas of a revolt were born in the heart of certain Arabs at the time. So any mess is hardly due to Mr. Lawrence.
Lawrence was an unbelievable hero. Shy, withdrawn from normal life, yet a lion when roused. He had studied Arabia and decided that he could give them independence. The west had other ideas. Not just Britain, but France too. He was betrayed by both. Had Britain and France conceded, maybe all would be well now. We will never know. This much distrusted man was an Enigma we will never understand. David Lean gave him fame, but he just wanted to be normal and invisible. Not to be.
He also recommended the English not attack at gallipoli, but was ignored, with the resulting mass deaths of the ANZAC forces, and massive Turkish deaths as well. Who ignored the advice, Winston Churchill.
One thing we British are very good at is double dealing and reneging on commitments. It's written into our history. It's little wonder we have little trust left in this world, particularly among the Arab nations.
Two things are found in the desert: God and revolution. Lawrence, who saw himself as the prophet behind the Arab Revolt, certainly found both. "Truly, for some men nothing is written unless they write it."
yes well even he was guilty of following an hallucination he picked up from reading too many stories of ''knights errant'' saving damsels and slaying dragons.
How sad, that so little relevant comment is made either here or in other discourse, of the intense tribal feuding among the Arabs, before Lawrence appeared & continues today. Throw in the value of oil & religion, then the true reasons for conflicts in the Middle East, from the Crusades to today, then there you have it. T.E. Lawrence & his romantic & idealistic views of this very complex region, should be praised, not denigrated by those who seek to obtain notoriety.
Are you suggesting that the Arabs lived in peace and harmony before the crusades? It took an external threat for Saladin, then later, the Mahdi to be able to achieve any sort of unity, and how long did it last after THEIR deaths? Same with Lawrence; a brief moment of exception in history.
The British were desperate to: - Protect their control of the Suez Canal - Control Access to the Oil in Iraq & Iran - Control the area of Jerusalem for religious reasons - Provide the French with a Colony in Syria as compensation for losses in mainland France. Helping develop Arab Countries was the last thing the British Govt had in mind.
Can’t understand why critics aim derogatory comments toward TE Lawrence. He is, foremost, a man of literature. His writings are works literature, not so much history. Accept it, with all its poetic embellishments, written by a man who gloried in his achievements.
The dedication to 7 Pillars - "To S.A." - is one of the greatest expressions of love and loss ever penned. It also manages to sketch the Arab Revolt and predict the consequences of its betrayal in only a few lines.
Interesting reading, these comments. I love the naivety of the posters who try to ascribe the problems of the Middle East to Britain. It was admirable that Lawrence managed to unite the various factions in their time of need, but the salient question is, how long did the alliance las.............
The opportunity of uniting the Arabs came after the war, when the British and French had the choice to either fulfill their promises of unity and independence or to impose a neocolonial, "divide and rule" scheme. Western imperialists continued that policy for a hundred years. They destroyed the Arab political and social consensus in Iraq, and they continue to try to partition the Syrian Arab Republic.
The book I have read and even seven pillars of wisdom. He may have come out as gay today but my feeling he was more a less asexual along the same line of Richard the Lionheart. Both were too consumed in their part as leaders They were above to ordinary people and had genius to lead and had ability inspire those around them. Lawrence had a love of the Arabia's and was left betrayed by the British and French.
There are many famous men in British government and the military who had gay relations in their youth who later married and entered politics. Lawrence wouldn't be the first or last to have that kind of connection in private schools and colleges. But he might be the most famous who's life was cut short before he ''transitioned'' into marriage and fatherhood, if he had perhaps the public's memory for his same sex attractions would be forgotten.
I wonder why people have the need to point out that he may have been gay. So what??? That does not deminish his achievements,nor his love for bedouins as people. Don't you love your friends? That doesn't mean you shag them all!
@@ixcalix148 Exactly. He was disappointed. He was romantic and creative but not sexual. One of his close friends was gay but that friend states that TE was not interested. Lawrence was acutely aware of his height. Not 5ft 5 inches but more like 5 ft 3 in. Possibly this diminished his confidence with women.
The American Military has learned that if you mandate the reading of this (abridged) book the reader will put him or herself into it as the protagonist, it's natural. This creates a narrative for each officer to follow, the idea that they are living in an epic saga about themselves, and it creates just enough cognitive dissonance to keep them ''empire building'' even though it's been a proven failure since Lawrence left the desert 100 years ago. It's fantasy association and it's just one of many illusions that sends thousands of trained military operatives into the world thinking the United States' destiny is to rule the planet.
If anyone is interested in reading David Fromkin - whose book was heavily promoted by The New York Times, the Wilson Center and other mainstream and neocon organizations in the wake of 911, when Americans were asking, "Why do they hate us?" - be advised that in that very long work about how the allies dealt with the Middle East at the Paris peace conference he addressed and dismissed the King-Crane Commission in one very brief paragraph, and he gave the Armenian genocide incredibly short shrift. The Assyrian refugees from Turkey, on the other hand, who refused to join the well-integrated Arabic-Assyrian communities of Iraq, are very sympathetically dealt with, as is the Kurdish issue. When he does deal with the Arab Revolt, and the Palestine problem, he does so in a way that tends to deligitimize or minimize. In view of what has happened to Iraq, Syria and Palestine since 2003...well it makes ya think, don't it?
Well Peggy, it's easy to write AFTER a HUNDREDS years have past. Lawrence, how large of little he played a role in this, the carving up of the Levant and the remnants of Turkey as a sort of 'revenge' undid everything he stood for. Look at the Armenian genocide (amongst others, the Kurds, the 'other' religions or traditions ... an empire in free fall.) The feeble chance the Osmans (as a stable post-Byzantine Imperium until the brain-fade in their last century) No, Erdogan is not the answer, weaponized by the West. In his cerebral folly, he is ready to do ANYTHING to destroy what is left of the different people and culture his country is made of.
This video is propaganda for Lawrence and the English. Have read many books on this aspect of the war. They present a very different viewpoint of Lawrence and the war in the east.
To Joseph Nardone, Read my 1st reply to Tony L. Mr. Lawrence served in the British Army not the English Army. Any propagada was Holywood productions and not English. As stated in the video. TE Lawrence kind of drifted in to obscurity after Versailles. So it was only the 1960s film that returned him to any public attention. The purpose was the golden box office sales for the Holywood film produers. Zionist Jews maybe or the supporters of Zionism. No money from sales went to any English goverment so clearly it was not English propagada or an English production.
I don't think so. For one thing, it features commentary from Prof. Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian. And Edward Said has talked about and written about Lawrence as well. Lawrence was a tool of the British, most certainly, but I do think his sentiments were toward the Arabs and their quest for independence. This is seen in his efforts at the Paris Peace Conference.
@@aerohead9676 An officer in the British Army might reasonably be expected to serve the interests of his country -- or be 'a tool of the British,' as you put it.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
As an Armenian I find it difficult to comment dispassionately regarding the Ottoman Empire. So, I will only say this: Seven Pillars of Wisdom is an incredible piece of literature and does so without accounting for the specifics of it's content. It is impossible to read without reflecting, repeatedly, upon what must be the nature of the mind that wrote it. Purely as literature it rather staggers. As one reads on, and now in appreciation of polymathic nature of the author AND main character, everything within now must be seen in that light. That is one HELL of a kink, and I know of no other volume that contains it. Read that book.
What a fantastic documentary with such rare footage and It clears up the whole story of Lawrence in Arabia clarifying many aspects of the story. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Very beautiful video of T E Lawrence , congratulations. From Argentina.
There is a relative new book about T.E. Lawrence, 'Lawrence in Arabia', by Scott Anderson, which deals with his early time in the Middle East, the places he went, the people he met, the languages he learned, way before the war, loved it there!! One deals with the Englishmen he got to know who were there already mapping resources, and collecting information on the local populations!!
Second this book, very well written. At the time wanted to learn more about the Syria situation. Very very good book
That was great. Thank you.
Lawrence had intended to write a substantial history of the Arab Revolt - including documents, quotes, maps, timelines, etc - but his first draft - including his notes, diaries and documents - were lost or stolen. I lean towards the theory that they were stolen by Meinertzhagen.
Instead, he wrote the beautiful and impressionistic memoir that is 7 Pillars. The task of writing that history was left to George Antonius, and it took the British govt twenty years to acknowledge that Antonius's documents and translations from Arabic had even existed and were accurate.
Lawrence could have allied himself with Antonius. Instead, he said that Britain had emerged from the Cairo partitioning Conference with "clean hands" and resigned himself to nursing his PTSD while performing useful technical duties as a British enlisted man.
Q
Lawrence is a product of England, a source of much pride for that country. He was way ahead of the time, and if more had his vision then and now, the mid east would not be in the mess it is today.
To Tony L,
It was not England. It was the United Kingdom. The British Empire. T.E. Lawrence served in the British Army. Not the English Army. There is a massive difference. There is no evidence of any great pride in England about Mr.TE Lawrence, except for propagada fake pride. Or maybe some Gay Pride. But most of the TE Lawrence legend is Holywood. Not the same thing as real. Being Holywood productions it was likly Zionist Jewish. Not English. So if you know your Zionist history. Then you may know of their actions in the USA and the UK during the so called 'Great War'.
Mr.Lawrence was approached after the Arab ideas of a revolt were born in the heart of certain Arabs at the time. So any mess is hardly due to Mr. Lawrence.
Greenwood you have made a fool of yourself by declaring your total ignorance of T E Lawrence and his greatness.
@@theenglishman9596 His ignorance is astonishing.
@Tony Lam WHOOSH!!
Lawrence was an unbelievable hero. Shy, withdrawn from normal life, yet a lion when roused. He had studied Arabia and decided that he could give them independence. The west had other ideas. Not just Britain, but France too. He was betrayed by both. Had Britain and France conceded, maybe all would be well now. We will never know. This much distrusted man was an Enigma we will never understand. David Lean gave him fame, but he just wanted to be normal and invisible. Not to be.
He also recommended the English not attack at gallipoli, but was ignored, with the resulting mass deaths of the ANZAC forces, and massive Turkish deaths as well. Who ignored the advice, Winston Churchill.
One of the most fascinating, conflicted figures of 20th Century History.
One thing we British are very good at is double dealing and reneging on commitments. It's written into our history. It's little wonder we have little trust left in this world, particularly among the Arab nations.
Sounds like dead red 👶 talk
As are we Americans. We betrayed Afghanistan a few months ago.
The movie is pretty accurate
Two things are found in the desert: God and revolution. Lawrence, who saw himself as the prophet behind the Arab Revolt, certainly found both. "Truly, for some men nothing is written unless they write it."
yes well even he was guilty of following an hallucination he picked up from reading too many stories of ''knights errant'' saving damsels and slaying dragons.
I love Lawrence!!!!!
Why? He looks like a Ken doll
How sad, that so little relevant comment is made either here or in other discourse, of the intense tribal feuding among the Arabs, before Lawrence appeared & continues today.
Throw in the value of oil & religion, then the true reasons for conflicts in the Middle East, from the Crusades to today, then there you have it.
T.E. Lawrence & his romantic & idealistic views of this very complex region, should be praised, not denigrated by those who seek to obtain notoriety.
Are you suggesting that the Arabs lived in peace and harmony before the crusades? It took an external threat for Saladin, then later, the Mahdi to be able to achieve any sort of unity, and how long did it last after THEIR deaths? Same with Lawrence; a brief moment of exception in history.
The British were desperate to:
- Protect their control of the Suez Canal
- Control Access to the Oil in Iraq & Iran
- Control the area of Jerusalem for religious reasons
- Provide the French with a Colony in Syria as compensation for losses in mainland France.
Helping develop Arab Countries was the last thing the British Govt had in mind.
Can’t understand why critics aim derogatory comments toward TE Lawrence.
He is, foremost, a man of literature. His writings are works literature, not so much history.
Accept it, with all its poetic embellishments, written by a man who gloried in his achievements.
This book the seven pillars of wisdom is taught in military academia on obscure of the country how jto lead etc.
The dedication to 7 Pillars - "To S.A." - is one of the greatest expressions of love and loss ever penned. It also manages to sketch the Arab Revolt and predict the consequences of its betrayal in only a few lines.
Immortalize the Brough superior motorcycle
Brilliant. But at the end of the day Lawrence remains and enigma.
Lawrence lost several brothers on the Western Front.
Interesting reading, these comments. I love the naivety of the posters who try to ascribe the problems of the Middle East to Britain. It was admirable that Lawrence managed to unite the various factions in their time of need, but the salient question is, how long did the alliance las.............
He did not unite the Arabs: many remained loyal to the Ottoman sultan.
The opportunity of uniting the Arabs came after the war, when the British and French had the choice to either fulfill their promises of unity and independence or to impose a neocolonial, "divide and rule" scheme. Western imperialists continued that policy for a hundred years. They destroyed the Arab political and social consensus in Iraq, and they continue to try to partition the Syrian Arab Republic.
All of that and not a single, even in an off-handed comment, one of the defining facts of T.E Lawrence’s life, the fact that he was gay.
The book I have read and even seven pillars of wisdom. He may have come out as gay today but my feeling he was more a less asexual along the same line of Richard the Lionheart. Both were too consumed in their part as leaders They were above to ordinary people and had genius to lead and had ability inspire those around them. Lawrence had a love of the Arabia's and was left betrayed by the British and French.
There are many famous men in British government and the military who had gay relations in their youth who later married and entered politics. Lawrence wouldn't be the first or last to have that kind of connection in private schools and colleges.
But he might be the most famous who's life was cut short before he ''transitioned'' into marriage and fatherhood, if he had perhaps the public's memory for his same sex attractions would be forgotten.
I wonder why people have the need to point out that he may have been gay. So what??? That does not deminish his achievements,nor his love for bedouins as people. Don't you love your friends? That doesn't mean you shag them all!
@@ixcalix148 Exactly. He was disappointed.
He was romantic and creative but not sexual. One of his close friends was gay but that friend states that TE was not interested. Lawrence was acutely aware of his height. Not 5ft 5 inches but more like 5 ft 3 in. Possibly this diminished his confidence with women.
@@robertohoraciovines5416 Excellent point. I had forgotten that. It reveals much about TE Lawrence's character.
The American Military has learned that if you mandate the reading of this (abridged) book the reader will put him or herself into it as the protagonist, it's natural. This creates a narrative for each officer to follow, the idea that they are living in an epic saga about themselves, and it creates just enough cognitive dissonance to keep them ''empire building'' even though it's been a proven failure since Lawrence left the desert 100 years ago.
It's fantasy association and it's just one of many illusions that sends thousands of trained military operatives into the world thinking the United States' destiny is to rule the planet.
If anyone is interested in reading David Fromkin - whose book was heavily promoted by The New York Times, the Wilson Center and other mainstream and neocon organizations in the wake of 911, when Americans were asking, "Why do they hate us?" - be advised that in that very long work about how the allies dealt with the Middle East at the Paris peace conference he addressed and dismissed the King-Crane Commission in one very brief paragraph, and he gave the Armenian genocide incredibly short shrift. The Assyrian refugees from Turkey, on the other hand, who refused to join the well-integrated Arabic-Assyrian communities of Iraq, are very sympathetically dealt with, as is the Kurdish issue. When he does deal with the Arab Revolt, and the Palestine problem, he does so in a way that tends to deligitimize or minimize. In view of what has happened to Iraq, Syria and Palestine since 2003...well it makes ya think, don't it?
Well Peggy, it's easy to write AFTER a HUNDREDS years have past. Lawrence, how large of little he played a role in this, the carving up of the Levant and the remnants of Turkey as a sort of 'revenge' undid everything he stood for. Look at the Armenian genocide (amongst others, the Kurds, the 'other' religions or traditions ... an empire in free fall.) The feeble chance the Osmans (as a stable post-Byzantine Imperium until the brain-fade in their last century) No, Erdogan is not the answer, weaponized by the West. In his cerebral folly, he is ready to do ANYTHING to destroy what is left of the different people and culture his country is made of.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
This is so factually incorrect as to be worthless. If it can't get basic facts correct then the rest is useless.
Actually very accurate
You criticise the accuracy of the video, yet, you are reluctant to express any examples!
Che Guevara
The Ottoman turks only DENIED the British, they never defeated them . Your history, the real history, is obviously not know by you.
Is this how the Ottoman's lost most of their territory?
HE WAS A HOLLYWOOD IMAGINATION///Myth of promising one area to two camps, or, more////
The abrrabia
This video is propaganda for Lawrence and the English. Have read many books on this aspect of the war. They present a very different viewpoint of Lawrence and the war in the east.
To Joseph Nardone,
Read my 1st reply to Tony L. Mr. Lawrence served in the British Army not the English Army. Any propagada was Holywood productions and not English. As stated in the video. TE Lawrence kind of drifted in to obscurity after Versailles. So it was only the 1960s film that returned him to any public attention. The purpose was the golden box office sales for the Holywood film produers. Zionist Jews maybe or the supporters of Zionism. No money from sales went to any English goverment so clearly it was not English propagada or an English production.
I don't think so. For one thing, it features commentary from Prof. Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian. And Edward Said has talked about and written about Lawrence as well. Lawrence was a tool of the British, most certainly, but I do think his sentiments were toward the Arabs and their quest for independence. This is seen in his efforts at the Paris Peace Conference.
@@aerohead9676 An officer in the British Army might reasonably be expected to serve the interests of his country -- or be 'a tool of the British,' as you put it.
@@philipterzian4581 Exactly. Even the Arabs knew and understood that he was a loyal British soldier.