Book: Lawrence of Arabia

Mini book Review: Lawrence of Arabia by Scott Anderson

The setting for the book is the Middle East preceding and including World War I. In addition to the war going on in Europe, the Middle East countries involved in WWI wanted to rid their countries of foreign influence and domination -- European or Ottoman.

This well written book (618 pages which I read as an ebook) became a page turner.

One of the players in that Middle East struggle was TE Lawrence. The extensive research going into this book follows the life of TE Lawrence as an archeologist, as a spy, and as the leader of an Arab army in the Middle East. Although Lawrence is the focus of the book, there are several other persons who also influence the shape of the Middle East after WWI.

For what little may have been accomplished at the end of WWI, 100 years later little has changed in the Middle East: the same tribal and religious issues remain.