Seven Pillars of Wisdom

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Seven Pillars of Wisdom

By: T. E. Lawrence

Narrated by: Roy McMillan

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About this listen

Although T. E. Lawrence, commonly known as "Lawrence of Arabia", died in 1935, the story of his life has captured the imagination of succeeding generations. Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a monumental work in which he chronicles his role in leading the Arab Revolt against the Turks during the First World War. A reluctant leader, and wracked by guilt at the duplicity of the British, Lawrence nevertheless threw himself into his role, suffering the blistering desert conditions and masterminding military campaigns which culminated in the triumphant march of the Arabs into Damascus.

Public Domain (P)2012 Naxos AudioBooks

Classics

Military & War

Military

Ottoman Empire

Imperialism

War

Middle East

Africa

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This listen is a long, fruitful, rich and tiresome journey. I can only be in awe of Lawrence of Arabia’s feats. For anyone with experience in the Middle East and with the Arabic populace, you will be equally impressed at how relatable the decades ago era still is.
I was particularly captivated by Lawrernce’s detailed encounters of the vast and baron deserts and the rural landscapes he traversed. The ability to move and operate over 100’s of miles on camelback effectively, was nothing short of incredible. Accompanied by the cunning sabotaging and ambushing tactics, which left me to wonder if those same styled long range, enduring, isolated, resourceful themed operations could be replicated today.
After all, these operations were undertaken with limited rations, coffee and uncertain water resoirvoires and were achieved through limited equipment and demolitions. However, they were able to skilfully target the Turkish rail supply routes with determinative accuracy, which in itself was a fine display of unconventional warfare.
As Lawrence was a Britsh operative amongst the Arab tribes, Lawrence’s will, perseverance and resolve were impressive and engaging to learn from. The deep understanding Lawrence developed of the Arab’s characteristics and traits, as well as accommodating and navigating them were so excellently done. Which his observations, to the readers/ listeners delight, were so exquisitely portrayed. Including:
‘The Arab leaders showed a completeness of instinct, reliance upon intuition and the unperceived foreknown which left our centrifugal minds gasping. Like women, they understood and judged quickly, effortlessly, unreasonably. It’s almost seemed as though the oriental exclusion of women from politics had conferred her particular gifts upon the men.’
However, what I most enjoyed about this British representative, was the elegance and poise he was able to capture in the graphic and descriptive story telling. Quotes which reflect this powerful and traditionally styled writing examples are numerous but some standouts were:
‘The trim settlement of absurd little houses, brown and white, holding together for security's sake, looked doll-like and more lonely than the desert, in the immense shadow of the dark precipice of Subh, behind. While we watched it, hoping to see life at its doors, the sun was rushing up, and the fretted cliffs, those thousands of feet above our heads, became outlined in hard refracted shafts of white light against a sky still sallow with the transient dawn.’
‘after a long spell of the restrained desert, flowers and grass seemed to fidget and the everywhere burgeoning green of tilth became vulgar in its fecundity.’

The depiction of a lone British operative amongst these daring and ambitious Arab tribes were also appropriately highlighted
‘Englishmen being sure of their own absolute excellence.’
‘The English hunger for desolate lands, to build them up, and so perhaps one day Arabia will seem to them precious.’
‘we English who lived years abroad among strangers went always dressed in the pride of our remembered country. That strange entity that had no part with its inhabitants but for those who loved England most often liked Englishmen least.’
I found these to be profound, accurate and humourous outlooks of the British.

While this may not be a book I will highly recommend to friends and family, I feel I’m richer from the experience. I’d highly encourage the Audible version, the narrator is a delight to listen to and depicts the narrative excellently.
I enjoyed reminiscing from my own history of working closely with numerous nationalities across the Middle East, and the rich detail in story telling I can hope to aspire towards. While the story was long, mixed with some dryer sections, I feel that is inevitable from such a long drawn out and detailed themes to unconventional styled operations.