LAWRENCE IN ARABIA: WAR, DECEIT, IMPERIAL FOLLY AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST by Scott Anderson

Narrated by Malcolm Hillgartner

     Dissembling the Myth of Lawrence of Arabia

Any attempt to understand the modern world must explain the shape of the Middle East. This is a serious attempt to dismantle the Middle East turmoil from the perspective of World War One and the enigmatic figure of T. E. Lawrence. After listening, I can say that I think I grasp the shape of the political forces of the Middle East a lot better but that I fail to know the strangely paradoxical figure of Lawrence. Far from the romantic Peter O’Toole version of Lawrence of Arabia, Scott Anderson paints a portrait of the man that is more realistic and contradictory.

Malcolm Hillgartner submits a journeyman’s effort here. Nothing spectacular, but clear and unobtrusive.