There have been a number of biographies about Lawrence the man, Lawrence the myth, Lawrence the mythy man.He seemed a complex fellow, almost larger than life, driven by forces and ambitions that were at times other worldly, certainly outside the motivations that drove many historic figures to make the impact their lives left on the world they in time left behind. Few of them outliving the legends foisted upon them by the worlds perceptions of their deeds.Despite the fact he led a full, active and colorful life from beginning to its unexpected close, it was the two/three years he spent uniting the desert tribes in Arabia that he is best remembered for. The visually appealing and iconic image of him in his flowing desert robes is the stuff of legend. Looking every inch the desert warrior or Ealing movie born Jedi knight( Peculiarly English in a remote desert setting.) is famous the world over in no small part an image generated by the David Lean bio pic with that amazing turn by the amazing Peter O Toole.
TE Lawrence was born into an eccentric family situation. The mother and father of the five sons being unmarried. A terrible stigma in those far off class based days which would have affected the boys chances for good schooling and career prospects, had the details of their life been better known. To my uneducated ears it all sounded terribly bohemian, a mix of Tom Brown's School Days and Swallows And Amazons. Even as a school boy he seemed destined for a life less ordinary. A life he certainly went on to lead, recorded in fascinating and engaging juicy detail by Michael Korday. And some of those details were and remain almost pruriently unresolved. Arabia was the glittering prize in a deadly game of thrones played by the world's power players. In fairness Michael Korday does not play down the ruthlessness of England as an ambitious and greedy power player in that game.
Hero is an intimate glimpse into the life and legend of Lawrence Of Arabia. It is a big book that covers many miles and minutes but does not outstay its welcome. Something the man himself would have appreciated.
Here is a tiny gleam in the eye of TE Lawrence himself when he once explained to his mother his passion for reading and for beautiful books; " Father won't know all this-but if you get the right book for the right time you taste joy-not only bodily, physical, but spiritual also, which pass out above and beyond one's miserable self, as it were through a huge air, following the light of another man's thought. And you can never be quite the old self again."
