Revolt in the Desert (Isis Large Print Mainstream Series)

Rating:
Summary: Worth the time
Review: A good read. Honest, insightful, intelligent and exciting.

Rating:
Summary: Revolt in the Desert
Review: How can you give only a four star rating to a piece of first hand historical evidence? After all the author was also the man that helped lead and coordinate the arab revolt.

Any student of Lawrence will be able to tell you that the version of 'Revolt in the Desert' that finally reached the public was a heavily censored sanitised version of what really happened. Lawrence himself has been reported by contemporary sources as having burnt the first couple of drafts due to some of the content (potential references to Lawrences ambiguous sexuality, alleged atrocities carried out by sections of the arab army on Turkish POWs etc. Lawrence was also a self confessed - and reported as - a line shooter). All this said if you've read official military histories of this period and know a bit about Lawrence then this book will help you get the feel of sand in your boots. A good piece of source material or a rattling good adventure yarn but you would do well to keep in the back of your mind who wrote this and when it was written.

Enjoy, a rare treat to read a campaign history by one who was there and writes with the flair of an academic as opposed to a soldier.