Travel

"Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia," by Michael Korda – I finally finished this insightful, engaging and fascinating biography of T.E. Lawrence, a man whose life was both strange and significant, and remains so today. The biography reads extremely well – almost like a novel– as the reader is swept up into the Arab Revolt of 1917 right from the beginning. Korda focuses on the heroism, Englishness and overall character of Lawrence, while the reader learns that much of what we face today in the Middle East has its roots in Lawrence’s doomed struggle to get the Arabs what they thought they had been promised and deserved for rising in revolt against the Ottoman Empire, and in the betrayal of their hopes and his at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. So many grievances and bitterly disputed frontiers still divide the region with no sign of peace any time soon. But Korda offers us an opportunity to learn from Lawrence on how to understand and deal with the seeds of Muslim anger at the West. This book is extremely important as it helps to explain — and perhaps enable people to better understand and appreciate — the volatile changes taking place in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen today.