Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia

A good look at T.E. Lawrence

Previous reviewers seem to using the review space to express displeasure with the ebook price. I'm going to comment on the book. I've read a lot of Lawrence biographies and other work on his life and achievements. This one is the latest, and takes advantage of the release of many previously restricted files on Lawrence and his official actions in WW1. Korda has also read many of the letters Lawrence wrote throughout his life and has made some analysis of the circumstances in which they were written and Lawrence's relationship with the recipients. I found this book lucid and clear in expression and carefully researched and thought. The last section has analysis of some of the earlier biographies which often had obvious and varied agendas; Korda hoped, I am sure, to avoid this. Lawrence was never a take him or leave him person at any time. This is a must read for anyone interested in Lawrence or in the Middle East - the section on the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 is enlightening. Decisions made there are still giving trouble today, and Lawrence clearly felt he failed the Arab people. Korda has given us an illuminating view of a complex man and a life that resonates more that 75 years after it ended.

15 out of 16 people found this review helpful.

Outstanding scholarship and accessible prose!

T.E. Lawrence is often portrayed as an enigma in the various biographies that have examined his life. Hero parses out Lawrence in an even-handed manner that allows the reader to walk with Lawrence as he struggles with the Arab question at the end of the First World War and then Lawrence's personal demons that assailed him after the war's conclusion. Studying Lawrence's involvement in the war is essential to understanding the Middle East today and the use of guerilla warfare all over the world. Korda's book is a great place to start before you engage lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Pricing?

$19.80 for the hardback and $19.99 for the digital version??? What's wrong with this picture?

7 out of 24 people found this review helpful.

Pricing Model Re-Think

At less than a dollar difference for the hardback and ebook, somebody's either dreaming' or worse! I'll try the sample on the house and do neither with this strategy. I thought the whole business model was "sell 'em the e-reader, discount the book, save the paper, the shipping, the stocking, etc. And share the savings with the Customer."

Lotsa luck with this thinking. This thinking leads to the same end as the geniuses at the record companies, just entering through another door. Someone will come up with "Bookster."

6 out of 18 people found this review helpful.

Too many mistakes

Great book, however, the e-reader version is just too distracting with mistakes. Too many words running together. I have not found one page without this problem. Yes, I can figure out the words but that's not the point. There simply should not be these mistakes with an e-book priced at 20 dollars. And on page 329 it just jumps to who knows where. Really shows the HarperCollins just doesn't care. Sucks when a publisher ruins a otherwise great book.

5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

excellent, highly recommend

Alas, this is the book that should have won the Pulitzer for history instead of the polemic by Stacey Schiff on Cleopatra. In my youth, (AKA 1960's-70s), I tried to read "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" but Lawrence's reputation had been severely damaged by questions as to the accuracy and honesty of his own account of the Great War. I couldn't rightly judge the integrity of what I was reading, that, and Lawrence liked to immitate the ponderous style of Doughty's "Arabia Deserta." Korda covers these issues of accuracy and redeems Lawrence's stylistic eccentricities with many examples of his strength of description. Lawrence is an extraordinary man with extraordinary personal baggage. But Korda treats his subject with compassion and sympathy without becoming maudlin. He puts Lawrence's accomplishments in perspective, and gives us a picture of a shy, insightful man, full of very human contradictions who was a natural born leader. Taking advantage of long withheld archival information and other sources, he brings a clarity to his subject that has long been needed. This is a highly readable account worth the price of admission. In fact, I could hardly put the book down, and at just one page short of 700, that's saying something. Korda is honest and doesn't clutter his work with anachronsitic judgements, (unlike Ms. Schiff who likes to drag Edward Said into her account whenever she can). After I finished the book I decided to go out and get a copy of Korda's biography of Eisenhower. A good historian!

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

The Many Sides of a Complex Man

"Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia" by Michael Korda is a biography of Englishman Thomas Edward (T.E.) Lawrence better known by his nickname. The biography follows Lawrence from his birth to his early death.

T.E. Lawrence was the illegitimate son of an Irish landowner who ran off with the family governess, Sarah Lawrence. They settled in Oxford, England using her name and brought up five sons, Thomas Edward being the second. From the start his mother had a difficult time accepting that Thomas will be different.

Thomas got interested in medieval architecture and toured studying castles all over the world on many grueling journeys, walking alone much of the way. As World War I broke out, Lawrence's knowledge of the Ottoman Empire ensured him a post as an officer in Egypt and he quickly became the link between the British and the Arab revolt and becomes known to the world as Lawrence of Arabia.

"Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia" by Michael Korda is an amazing biography of a very complex man. After reading this book I finally understood the allure of Lawrence of Arabia: as ambiguous as he was in his lifetime, he is just as much ambiguous in his death.

Mr. Korda does an excellent job examining the different, often contradictory, sides of this complex man. Lawrence was an Oxford educated scholar with special interest in archeology and an imperialist, but he was also a ruthless warrior who supported a revolt against the empire. Fighting against the Turkish Ottoman rule Lawrence acted in a brave fashion which could also be described as fanatic and quite irresponsible. T.E. Lawrence was a sexually repressed vegetarian who would eat meat not to insult his Arab hosts, hated physical contact but didn't flinch when charging the enemy.

"detractors and admirers alike tend to dissect his personalty into thin slices, separating the soldier form the scholar, the hero for the teller of tall tales, the victim of neuroses from the moan of action, and in the process losing sight of just what an attractive and interesting person he was."

The author does an excellent job bringing the reader the many sides of Lawrence, from admiration "cool judgment under fire" to the introducing a complex man, depressed, shy but certainly eccentric. The T.E. Lawrence we learn about has "found himself in part of the world where his taste for sweet things and his dislike of alcohol were shared by most of the local population".

Mr. Korda does a wonderful job describing Lawrence's harassment and sabotage campaign (basically hit and run tactics) using a small force which, by nature, was much more mobile than the Turkish standing army. A poignant part of the book comes when describing Lawrence's capture, torture and rape by the Turks. This was a life changing event for Lawrence and the humiliation he felt for enjoying the rape has haunted him to the end. Michael Korda treats this pivotal occurrence in Lawrence's life with sensitivity and seriousness it deserves.

The transformation of T.E. Lawrence into the mythical Lawrence of Arabia mostly by Lowell Thomas is also a part of the story. However the author is quick to point out that the lure of his character does not overshadows Lawrence's real achievement, such as pioneering a new kind of warfare and his pivotal rule in creating three Middle Eastern kingdoms.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Stop whining about price

It is cheaper than the hardback by $20.00. As for the book, it starts slow but is a perfect read for great stories and information about him. Can be dry at times due to writing style.

4 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Too expensive

Great deal - buy Nook and over pay for e-books.

3 out of 25 people found this review helpful.

The man and the myth

Great book. It's long. Goes into great deal of history on his life. Still hard to put your finger on Lawrence-truly a great hero with as many oddities as strong character traits. Enjoyable thru the end!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Loved the book, but the proofreading leaves a bit to be desired

....especially in the footnotes. Most of the errors are mistakes in capitalization and I found it distracting at times. I don't know if that's just the ebook version, or if the hardback is the same way. Shame on you, HarperCollins. I've read a few Lawrence biographies (none recently)and I like this one the best. Korda does an excellent job of juggling Lawrence's private and public lives with the complexities of the era, and gives us a little insight into the current mess. ("Messpot," is one of the names Lawrence used for the Middle East - for "Mesopotamia" - and it fits as well now as it did then, sadly.) "Hero" is so information-dense that I had to read a lot more carefully than usual. I even went online a couple of times to get a bit more depth on a subtopic than Korda was able to squeeze into a book that already runs to 700+ pages. I get the impression that Korda really enjoyed doing this one, the enthusiasm he has for his subject shows. Highly recommended.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

More expensive than the hardback?!

Why did I buy this device, again?

1 out of 18 people found this review helpful.

Lawrence of Arabia

A very long and tedious book. Hard together through for the most part even though I was looking forward to reading the book. I did enjoy learning more about his family, what drove him and his sometimes unusual personality.

Very informative

This book answered all of the questions I had after reading Seven Pillars. I know there are some biographers of Lawrence who seem to want to disparage him in some way or another, but in this volume Michael Korda seems to be pretty even-handed.

If you've wondered about where T.E. Lawrence came from before the Arab Campaign or where he went after, this book is a good choice.

Great book poor copy

The book makes for an interesting read about a fasinating man and time. Too bad the typos were soooooo prolific. It became distracting from the overall read and NOT worth the money spent on it.

Excellent portrait of an enigma!

Great read on the life and complexities of T E Lawrence.. Get it at the library - may have the e-book at some libraries if you have an e- reader. Kindle loads the book on the device, with nook you have to go thru a computer.

Even if you enjoy reading about Lawrence of Arabia, this book will be rough going.

This is the kind of writing that makes everyone know that they too can be a writer. Grammatically and in most other ways, this was difficult to read. You will enjoy it if you love the world's longest run-on sentences.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The cost is simply unacceptable.

When I decided to purchase an eReader, in my case a NookColor, I made a choice: ease of storage and lower pricing in exchange for a loss of anonymity in my book choices and the ability to resell used books. Perhaps these two factors mean little to some but as someone who believes strongly in both conservation of resources and personal freedom free from invasive corporate marketing tactics based on my purchasing choices it was a major compromise on my part that took me the better part of 3 years to make. If publishers and sellers decide to charge the same or functionally similar amounts for eBooks as they do for print copies I have lost half of my incentive for continuing to purchase eBooks over print copies. If they cost the same amount I can recoup some of my purchase price of the print version by reselling it used, or better yet, purchase it used for even less and THEN resell it again, saving both more money and resources and not worry that someone will bombard my email with purchase recommendations. I simply will NOT pay this much for an eBook, period.

As an aside, this note was also sent to the publisher.

0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Too many initials

Why does every British establishment figure have to have all those meaningless letters behind his name. How many average Americans know what GCVO, GCMG etc. mean? Also Aigues Mortes has never been in Provence and there are numerous other factual errors which diminish the worth of the book.

0 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

A scholarly piece: a fascinating life but dense with detail writing

T.E. Lawrence is a fascinating topic. A complex person with unique views and strong feelings. This book is a scholarly work on his life. Rich with accurate detail but weak in "friendly" presentation. Hard to read. I enjoyed learning about the subject but wish for more pleasure in the reading.