Lawrence in Arabia

This is a fascinating a detailed story covering the actions of Lawrence and other key players before, during, and after WW1.
So much of what is discussed in this book was not part of my public education on the war, so I needed to refer to additional texts to understand the geography and people discussed in this book.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in history, other views of WW1, the middle east, or political development.

I leaned so much about the futility of World War 1 and the making of the modern Middle East. It is told through the perspective of 4 important characters in the formation, including T.E. Lawrence, Aaron Aaronson, William Yale and Kurt Proeffer. Each was representing a different interest. The story probably could have been improved if they were able to continue more story through Proeffer's character, especially later in the book. I also would have enjoyed hearing a French and Turkish point-of-view fleshed out. All-in-all, it was a very good detailing as to why things are as they are today. There is also an interesting discussion of how things likely were to have been the same, even if Lawrence & Faisal Hussein would have succeeded. Very interesting read and now more likely that I will actually start to read, “Seven Pillars,” which had been on my shelf for some time.

Very good, but because my knowledge of WWI and what led up to it is lacking, the first 1/3 of the book was difficult for me to follow. This isn't a traditional biography that sticks to the life of one person, instead there are several main characters and a lot of, for me, unfamiliar geography. Once I finally settled in though, it was great.