Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Thomas Edward Lawrence

Wordsworth Editions, 1997 - Biography & Autobiography - 665 pages

With an Introduction by Angus Calder.

As Angus Calder states in his introduction to this edition, 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom is one of the major statements about the fighting experience of the First World War'. Lawrence's younger brothers, Frank and Will, had been killed on the Western Front in 1915. Seven Pillars of Wisdom, written between 1919 and 1926, tells of the vastly different campaign against the Turks in the Middle East - one which encompasses gross acts of cruelty and revenge and ends in a welter of stink and corpses in the disgusting 'hospital' in Damascus.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom is no Boys Own Paper tale of Imperial triumph, but a complex work of high literary aspiration which stands in the tradition of Melville and Dostoevsky, and alongside the writings of Yeats, Eliot and Joyce.

Contents

• Authors Preface: 3
• Introductory Chapter: 5
• INTRODUCTION Foundations of Revolt: 9
• The Discovery of Feisal: 47
• Opening the Arab Offensive: 99
• A Railway Diversion: 153
• Extending to Akaba: 217
• Marking Time: 303
• The Raid upon the Bridges: 373
• The Dead Sea Campaign: 445
• The Ruin of High Hope: 499
• Balancing for a Last Effort: 531
• The House is Perfected: 577
• Epilogue: 657

Bibliographic information

• Title: Seven Pillars of Wisdom; Classics of World Literature Series; Wordsworth classics of world literature
• Author: Thomas Edward Lawrence
• Contributor: Angus Calder
• Edition: reprint, revised
• Publisher: Wordsworth Editions, 1997
• ISBN: 1853264695, 9781853264696
• Length: 665 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Historical; Biography & Autobiography / Military; History / Wars & Conflicts / World War I; Social Science / Customs & Traditions; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / Middle Eastern Studies