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The Mint

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This autobiographical book is written by T. E. Lawrence of "Lawrence of Arabia" fame. Dissapointed with the results of the World War One, he returned to England and enrolled annonymously in the RAF(Royal Air Force). He recounts the harrassing experience of boot camp and military life, with a few gems of human insight and reflection. As a cohesive narrative it fails, as literature to compare to his "Seven Pillars" if fails, but as an accurate and honest record of his life as lived in the pre-World War Two RAF it is highly illuminating. Miltary history and Lawrence fans will give this book an extra star, an important supplement of material on one the century's most fascinating people.

The Mint by T.E. Lawrence is a treasure. It is the little iron sided box of a book that he promised a friend he would make of his notes on joining the R.A.F. Lawrence chose to hide from his fame in the only place he now felt comfortable, the military ranks of fighting men. But there was no fighting now, the war was over and it was on to new things. The new thing that captured Lawrence's interest was the creation of the British Royal Air Force. He did not want to be the man in charge, sitting in an office somewhere directing it all, looking down on the action, he wanted to be in the middle of it all with the men who would do the job.
In his own words: "Events killed the longer book; so you have the introduction, set out at a greater length."
He was found out. There was a media frenzy. The great Lawrence of Arabia was living as an ordinary man in the ranks under an assumed name. It was way more attention than Lawrence or the budding R.A.F. could stand so Lawrence disappeared again. He hid out in the tank corps for two years before he could sneak back into the R.A.F.
Reading the Seven Pillars of Wisdom leaves you hungry to know more of the man and this tiny bit is all he was willing or able to give up of himself, after already giving so much in the First World War and the writing of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
Lawrence meant it to become a book on the work of flying, but instead it is a book about men in the service, filled with Lawrence's insights of life in the ranks. It is not about the glory, but about the men. The training, endless drills and boredom are broken by little joys and defeats that happen almost between the lines. This book is not about battle, but living to do battle. It is about ordinary men who are warriors and a great warrior who preferred their company. The book's greatness comes from the man who wrote it, it is Lawrence, who always saw the ordinary in greatness and the greatness of the ordinary.

Called by T. E. Lawrence expert, Michael Yardley, the "most honest" of Lawrence's works, it is his account of his post-World War I service in the RAF. A definite must-read for Lawrence aficionados.

I remember an old TV show about the San Francisco mint.

The rows of shiny new money waiting to go into circulation in our economy. I wondered what it would be like working at the mint. Would I succumb to temptation and steal the money?

The military has a mint for new military members which we who have served are all too familiar with...it is called basic training. Basic training produces newly minted members who go into circulation into the various branches of the military.

THE MINT is an interesting time capsule of Lawrence's basic training at RAF UXBRIDGE prior to the Second World War. Sir Lawrence who was already famous as "Lawrence of Arabia" was not ready to retire from the military so while in his thirties he reenlisted in the RAF under an assumed name... "Airman Ross." The ruse did not work at least on a social level since everyone in his unit seemed to know who Lawrence was. The other suspicious enlistees fawned over his footlocker full of Arabic books and Lawrence quickly had to take down a news picture of himself that had appeared in the barracks.

Life in basic training reflected the quiet desperation of men described by Thoreau. A suicide, and horrible kitchen cleaning procedures coupled with the strange aloofness of the surrounding civilian community echo my own experiences as a basic trainee.

The crash of a seaplane and the heroic rescue of the crew by Lawrence echoes the dashing heroics of the much feted hero of the desert idolized by the English press. Winston Churchill once called Lawrence the greatest man produced by the twentieth century (speaking in the thirties I think.)

I went through a harrowing experience in both Air Force and Army basic training in my early thirties as did Lawrence. I often wonder whether I should write a book.

This book worth reading as historical time capsule material. Look for little more in it.