Lawrence of Arabia

In Our Time: History

BBC

History

4.4 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2019

⏱️ 52 minutes

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss T.E. Lawrence (1888 – 1935), better known as Lawrence of Arabia, a topic drawn from over 1200 suggestions for our Listener Week 2019. Although Lawrence started as an archaeologist in the Middle East, when World War I broke out he joined the British army and became an intelligence officer. His contact with a prominent Arab leader, Sharif Hussein, made him sympathetic to Hussein’s cause and during the Arab Revolt of 1916 he not only served the British but also the interests of Hussein. After the war he was dismayed by the peace settlement and felt that the British had broken an assurance that Sharif Hussein would lead a new Arab kingdom. Lawrence was made famous by the work of Lowell Thomas, whose film of Lawrence drew huge audiences in 1919, which led to his own book Seven Pillars of Wisdom and David Lean’s 1962 film with Peter O'Toole. In previous Listener Weeks, we've discussed Kafka's The Trial, The Voyages of Captain Cook, Garibaldi and the Risorgimento, Moby Dick and The Thirty Years War. With Hussein Omar Lecturer in Modern Global History at University College Dublin Catriona Pennell Associate Professor of Modern History and Memory Studies at the University of Exeter Neil Faulkner Director of Military History Live and Editor of the magazine Military History Matters Producer: Simon Tillotson

Transcript

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1:21.1	And he became famous, a boy's own figure, and the exotic image of the Britishers they might want
1:28.4	to see themselves and benching in the orient far from the brutal horrors of the Western front.
1:34.0	We're discussing him today as this autumn we ask you to suggest the topic for this
1:37.7	are Listen a Week. And he made the shortlist from over a thousand ideas. Our thanks to Zachary
1:42.8	Veeeth, June LK, Keith Hoppcraft and Anthony Killing for proposing this, and to you all.
1:49.2	When we discuss the loans of Arabia, Hussain Omar, lecturer in modern global history at the
1:55.1	University College Dublin, Katrina Pendle, associate professor of modern history and
1:59.5	memory studies at the University of Exeter, and Neil Faulkner, a director of military history
2:03.7	live in editor of the magazine, Military History Matters. Neil Faulkner, one may teal
2:08.4	on stand out as a boy. Well, I don't know that he necessarily stood out particularly from his
2:15.0	contemporaries. I think he stands out for us when we look back at the biography because there was
2:20.1	a strange family situation, which I think was crucial to understanding the role that he comes to
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