Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the Arabian Peninsula as there appears to be no definitive version of events. The story assumes a different shape -
particularly since the beginning of the 20th century - according to whose account you read.
Lawrence's own account of Arabian history, so eloquently described in
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom,
is a case
in point. You might imagine, from what he writes, that Lawrence and General Allenby, the senior British Officer
responsible for the Arab Campaign, single-handedly brought the modern Arabian Peninsula into being during the
Arab Revolt from 1915 to 1918: 'On my plan, by my effort,' he states triumphantly on the taking of Aqaba.
But where are the Arabs in Lawrence's account? What did they make of the pale-skinned, blue-eyed eccentric?
Read Suleiman Mousa's account of the campaign in
TE Lawrence: An Arab View
and you barely recognise the
same moment in history: while Lawrence is busy taking credit for little skirmishes, larger battles led by the Arabs
are only briefly mentioned; Lawrence arrives triumphant in cities where Arab leaders Feisal and Auda have been
waiting for days. Far from the great white hunter, he is remembered in many Arab accounts as a sickly individual
with boils who, like a spoof in a Western, mistakenly shot his own camel. But then such is history from an
Arab
perspective.
We'll never know whether Lawrence was centre-stage or sideshow. What the example illustrates, however, is
the caution with which you need to approach the history of the Peninsula. In the early 21st century, this must
surely sound familiar to anyone following current events in the region in local and Western media. It's tempting
to agree with Lawrence that history can at times be more about fiction than fact.
