Some years after the Arab Revolt, Faisal was asked to discuss the
role of T. E. Lawrence in the war. "Lawrence?" he said, "He was a
genius, of course, but not for this age. . . . A hundred years
hence, perhaps two hundred years hence, he might be understood; but
not today." John E. Mack's treatment of this perplexing,
larger-than-life figure is frank in its admiration for a man whom
he sees as not just a "hero" but also a "saint." Knightley and
Simpson's 1970 Secret Lives of Lawrence of Arabia, which was based
on newly released private papers and government documents,
purported to expose Lawrence as a tool of British imperialism in
the Mideast who quite simply hoodwinked the Arabs. That book also
dwelt on Lawrence's sexual preferences, revealing the disturbing
details of his flagellation disorder for the first time. Mack, a
depth psychologist, finds rather that Lawrence used the British to
aid the Arabs. He further marshals the biographical data into an
argument for an unusually gifted, almost superhuman Lawrence
obsessed from childhood with performing a great task: a need to
imitate his boyhood idols from chansons de geste by freeing a
people. While Knightley and Simpson have it that Lawrence's
penitential self-abasement in the RAF ranks was justified, Mack
contends that his conscience was overdeveloped, citing his shame
over his illegitimate origins and early religious training. Above
all, he considers his achievement so astounding that it transcends
the accusations of his many detractors. Faisal's assessment seems
most apt. If Mack's psychological detection intensifies the
mystery, his subtly layered portrait only increases our fascination
with this most bizarre 20th century legend. (Kirkus Reviews)
When this Pulitzer Prize-winning biography first appeared in 1976,
it rescued T. E. Lawrence from the mythologizing that had seemed to
be his fate. In it, John Mack humanely and objectively explores the
relationship between Lawrence's inner life and his historically
significant actions. Extensive interviews, far-flung
correspondence, access to War Office dispatches and unpublished
letters provide the basis for Mack's sensitive investigation of the
psychiatric dimensions of Lawrence's personality. In addition, Mack
examines the pertinent history, politics, and sociology of the time
in order to weigh the real forces with which Lawrence contended and
which impinged upon him.
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