Editing T. E. Lawrence (section)

===''Seven Pillars of Wisdom''===
{{main|Seven Pillars of Wisdom}}
[[File:Thomas Edward Lawrence-London Barton St.JPG|thumb|upright|left|14 [[Barton Street and Cowley Street, Westminster|Barton Street, Westminster]], London, where Lawrence lived while writing ''Seven Pillars'']]

Lawrence's major work is ''[[Seven Pillars of Wisdom]]'', an account of his war experiences. In 1919, he was elected to a seven-year research fellowship at [[All Souls College, Oxford]], providing him with support while he worked on the book.{{sfn|Wilson|1989|p=616}} Certain parts of the book also serve as essays on military strategy, Arabian culture and geography, and other topics. He rewrote ''Seven Pillars of Wisdom'' three times, once "blind" after he lost the manuscript.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/found-lawrence-of-arabias-lost-text-1266823.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/found-lawrence-of-arabias-lost-text-1266823.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Found: Lawrence of Arabia's lost text|date=13 April 1997|work=The Independent|access-date=18 January 2020}}</ref>

There are many alleged "embellishments" in ''Seven Pillars'', though some allegations have been disproved with time, most definitively in Jeremy Wilson's [[Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence|authorised biography]].{{sfn|Wilson|1989|p=4}} However, Lawrence's own notebooks refute his claim to have crossed the [[Sinai Peninsula]] from Aqaba to the Suez Canal in just 49 hours without any sleep. In reality, this famous camel ride lasted for more than 70 hours and was interrupted by two long breaks for sleeping, which Lawrence omitted when he wrote his book.{{sfn|Asher|1998|p=259}}

In the preface, Lawrence acknowledged George Bernard Shaw's help in editing the book. The first edition was published in 1926 as a high-priced private subscription edition, printed in London by [[Herbert John Hodgson]] and Roy Manning Pike, with illustrations by [[Eric Kennington]], Augustus John, [[Paul Nash (artist)|Paul Nash]], [[Blair Hughes-Stanton]],{{sfn|Wilson|1989|pp=759, 770}} and Hughes-Stanton's wife [[Gertrude Hermes]]. Lawrence was afraid that the public would think that he would make a substantial income from the book, and he stated that it was written as a result of his war service. He vowed not to take any money from it, and indeed he did not, as the sale price was one third of the production costs,{{sfn|Graves|1928|loc=chpt. 30}} leaving him in substantial debt.{{sfn|Mack|1976|p=323}} He always took care not to give the impression that he had profited economically from the Arab revolt. In a 'deleted chapter' of the ''Seven Pillars'' which reappeared in 2022, Lawrence wrote:

{{blockquote|For my work on the Arab front I had determined to accept nothing. The cabinet raised the Arabs to fight for us by definite promises of self-government afterwards. Arabs believe in persons, not in institutions. They saw in me a free agent of the British government, and demanded from me an endorsement of its written promises. So I had to join the conspiracy, and, for what my word was worth, assured the men of their reward. In our two years' partnership under fire they grew accustomed to believing me and to think my government, like myself, sincere. In this hope they performed some fine things but, of course, instead of being proud of what we did together, I was continually and bitterly ashamed.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Revealed: T.E. Lawrence felt 'bitter shame' over UK's false promises of Arab self-rule |last=Barnett |first=David |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/30/revealed-te-lawrence-felt-bitter-shame-over-uks-false-promises-of-arab-self-rule |work=The Guardian |date=30 October 2022 |access-date=2 November 2022}}</ref>}}

As a specialist in the Middle East, [[Fred Halliday]] praised Lawrence's ''Seven Pillars of Wisdom'' as a "fine work of prose" but described its relevance to the study of Arab history and society as "almost worthless."<ref>Halliday, ''100 Myths About the Middle East'', 2005, p. 147, {{ISBN|0-86356-529-8}}.</ref>

[[Stanford University|Stanford]] historian [[Priya Satia]] observes that ''Seven Pillars'' presents the Middle East with a broadly positive, yet 'Orientalist' perspective. Lawrence's romanticised and vivid depictions transformed him into a sought-after symbol of Britain's leadership and goodwill in the Middle East. This occurred during a time when Britain's global influence was waning, and the nation was grappling with the aftermath of the First World War. Therefore, his "...books evoked a vision of redemption from the troubled spirit of the age" and offered a "reassurance of continuity" with Britain's triumphant history.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Satia |first=Priya |title=Spies in Arabia: The Great War and the Cultural Foundations of Britain's Covert Empire in the Middle East |date=Apr 2008 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |pages=190–203}}</ref>