T. E. Lawrence: The Selected Letters [Paperback]

T. E. Lawrence (Author), Malcolm Brown (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1992

Although T.E. Lawrence was one of the greatest letter writers of our century, at least two thirds of his letters collected here have never been published before. This selection contains his correspondence with Mrs. George Bernard Shaw.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although he regarded letter-writing as "a bad habit," Lawrence of Arabia (Thomas Edward Lawrence, 1888-1935) wrote and received thousands of letters. Once he left the Middle East, he led a "comparatively empty" life, so his letters served as a lifeline to the outside world. Even his routine, casual notes were carefully crafted. Unlike the collections of 1938 and 1954, this is unexpurgated, containing many letters previously unavailable even to biographers, addressing correspondents such as E. M. Forster, Noel Coward, Ezra Pound, Augustus John and Charlotte (Mrs. G. B.) Shaw, Lawrence's most trusted epistolary confidant. Also included is much previously unpublished material about Lawrence during WW I, about his sexuality and about his state of mind in the last weeks of his life. Each letter is briefly but carefully annotated; none have been censored, even though Lawrence himself felt that they should not be held up to scrutiny by the public. The book is a major literary work.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The dashing, enigmatic Lawrence of Arabia--"scholar, archaeologist, soldier, diplomat, author, international celebrity"--was born 101 years ago. Two-thirds of this generous selection of his correspondence has never been published before. The over 300 letters to Mrs. George Bernard Shaw, printed here for the first time, are especially fascinating, as are the letters to E.M. Forster and Robert Graves. The new material bears significantly on the three great questions concerning Lawrence of Arabia: the role he played in the Arab Revolt, the nature of his sexuality, and the reasons that from 1922 onward he chose a life of relative obscurity. This edition seeks a popular rather than scholarly audience: not all the texts have been checked against the originals and numerous letters are printed in incomplete versions.
- Keith Cushman, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 31 pages
• Publisher: Marlowe & Co; First Edition edition (August 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569249954
• ISBN-13: 978-1569249956
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,795,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

T.E. Lawrence was born on 16th August 1888 in Tremadog in Wales. He was one of five illegitimate children born to the Seventh Baron of Westmeath. He studied at Jesus College, Oxford where he became interested in the Middle East. He worked for British Intelligence during the First World War and fought with the Arab forces to defeat the Turks. His exploits earned him the title of "Lawrence of Arabia" back in Britain.Her resigned in 1922 and sought anonymity in the RAF where he enlisted as John Hume Ross. He later changed his name by deed poll to T.E. Shaw. Shortly after retiring from the RAF, T.E. Lawrence died in a motorcycle accident on 19th May 1935.