Tea at Trianon: Guerrilla Leader: T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Guerrilla Leader: T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt

Professor of Military Theory James Schneider examines the leadership genius of T. E. Lawrence, known to history as “Lawrence of Arabia.” Schneider demonstrates how the lessons learned and taught by Lawrence in the Middle East could have prevented many modern military disasters had they been heeded. Lawrence’s success in the Middle East was rooted in his leadership abilities. A fearless, intelligent leader can make a world of difference, as Lawrence demonstrated. Schneider traces Lawrence’s growth as a leader from the beginning of his military involvement until his death in 1935. Lawrence was not a trained soldier but as a scholar. After a youth spent in traveling and learning languages Lawrence joined the British army at the beginning on the First World War and because of his mastery of Arabic and Middle Eastern geography was given espionage work on the Turkish front. His study of the Arab culture enabled him to win the confidence of that tribal people and he led them to victory after victory against their Turkish oppressors, changing the course of the war. Lawrence’s ideal was not to annihilate the enemy but rather pester them through guerilla attacks. It was only when Lawrence violated his own high code of honor that his emotional deterioration led to the end of his glorious career. Schneider gives the reader detailed descriptions of Lawrence’s military encounters as well as showing the inner turmoil and reflections of the man of conscience and principle that Lawrence was. “Lawrence’s intense psychological struggle in the desert brought him to a profound moral conversion that would lead ultimately to his personal redemption….Yet today the world waits in vain for Lawrence’s vision of peace in the Middle East.” (p.307) Guerrilla Leader is highly recommended for serious students of the Middle East and of military history.

This review originally appeared in the February 2012 edition of the Historical Novels Review.

(*NOTE: This book was sent to me by the Historical Novel Society in exchange for my honest opinion.)

Brantigny said...: Having been to the middle east, (more times than I care to remember) The middle east and sSudi acknowledges that TE Lawrence was in the middle east during the First World war, they refuse to give him any credit.; February 13, 2012 at 9:22:00 AM EST