I think it was shortly after the movie "Lawrence of Arabia" was released in 1963 that I was inspired by the movie to find out more about Lawrence. So I bought and read "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" and was blown away by the erudition of the man.....his poetic descriptions of the landscapes and his knowledge of the geology and rock types, his casual literary allusions ...and of course, the sheer....."Boys Own Annual" style of adventures that he was involved in. Yet there was something wistfully sad about the guy and his life ended so young (46). Both the movie and the book hinted at his homosexuality and, I guess, that was a real problem for him at the time. But, with the current book I am equally blown away by his youthful exuberance, his energy ...and again, his erudition. He writes beautifully even as a 18-20 year year old travelling in France. His letters to his mother are quite amazing in terms of detailed analysis of castles and keeps ...though not much of a personal nature. And I found myself wondering who exactly was his mother ....would she really understand all of this stuff? Maybe...but maybe not. There is a note written by his mother for the book and it seems remarkably plain and unadorned compared with Lawrence's own writings. Then I discovered that his father had left his first wife and four daughters and had taken up with the governess of the daughters. He had five (illegitimate) sons with the governess and they lived under the name of Lawrence. Actually, his father's name was Thomas Chapman and mother's name Sarah Junner. Though there is a story that Sarah's mother became pregnant to her employer (surname Lawrence) whilst working as a domestic. So all in all a fairly complex family background. But, apparently his father inspired in young Thomas Edward a love of antiquities, photography and bicycle riding. All of which he put to great use in the production of his thesis for part of his final exam at the University of Oxford for his Bachelor of Arts in Modern History. Not surprisingly ...he was awarded first class honours.
The first part of the book is really pretty much a travelogue of his explorations in Palestine and the crusader and arab castles there. The second section is a similar account of castles in France and England and the third part....in some ways the more interesting to me ....were his letters home to his mother about his various travels by bicycle in France and on foot in Palestine. Amazing when you consider that he was only around 19-20 years old when carrying out this research.
The thrust of the thesis is that, contrary to the accepted opinions of the time, The crusaders did not arrive in Palestine and absorb the secrets of military architecture from there and then transplant it to Europe. Rather it was the other way around.....the crusaders took their knowledge of proven structures from Europe to Palestine. If I was critiquing the thesis, I would suggest that there is a lot of text and conjecture that all comes together in a rush in the last paragraph of each section. And he seems to rely over-heavily on a single feature ....the mâchicoulis on the side of castles (an overhanging section that could be used for dropping rocks on besiegers below). Apparently, according to Lawrence, the arabs didn't have these before the crusaders arrived. He is also convinced that the crusaders took the idea of a stronghold (or keep) within the castle walls to the middle east. And he is very negative about the effectiveness of a keep. He comments that once the ouster walls of a castle were breached the survival of the inhabitants of the keep was rather doubtful. And the absence of keeps in pre-crusader castles, he takes as evidence that the movement of ideas was from Europe to the middle east rather than the other way around.
Actually, I think he has a rather difficult job. He was visiting castles around 1908-1909....about 700-800 years after they were constructed. Frequently they were constructed over pre-existing strongholds ...so adapted what was already there. And then the strongholds were attacked and changed hands multiple times between crusaders and arabs and, over the last 700 years, they may have been part destroyed, or mined for their cut stone, re-developed for more modern warfare etc. In France, by the time Lawrence was riding his bike around the countryside (and his coverage is truly remarkable) many of the big castles had been restored by Viollet le Duc or others ...or were currently occupied as grand houses. Anyway, the bottom line is that it is exceedingly difficult to ascertain exactly what was the layout in the crusader times.
But, I have to admit to being quite gob-smacked by the sheer distance that Lawrence managed to cover in France on a couple of bicycle tours and in Palestine-Syria on foot. He went up and down and across both countries and inspected and documented a vast number of military installations.
I can't believe that his knowledge of castles....as exhibited in his letter to his mother from Colchester in August 1905 (when he would have been just shy of 18 years old) was normal for a boy of that age. Perhaps there was a touch of autism there with the incredibly detailed focus on the subject of antiquities. But he certainly knew a lot and simply by visiting and personally studying closely (and mapping) ...37 castles in Palestine and Syria and 52 (in France by my count) ....plus more in Wales and England....he was probably the world authority of crusader military architecture at the time. There is one interesting throw away line in one of his letters where he says: "here I am Arab in habits, and slip in talking from English to French and Arabic unnoticing". Clearly he was picking up the languages as he went. Though I did notice that at one of his stops in France he was unable to obtain accommodation and so looked up "the Chaignons..where there was a most enthusiastic welcome". So it seems to me that maybe the family had spent much more time previously in France. (I can't help feeling a little envious of the opportunity to travel in France so readily in one's school holidays). And he also seems to have had a little bit of extra help with his travels in Palestine and Syria. (Staying with the Governors and having mounted military escorts....who was paying for all this?)
Overall, I found it a fascinating read. The Folio Society have done an excellent job with this edition. The maps and drawings are great and the photos also great. Clearly Lawrence had picked up a few tips from his dad on taking photos in 1908-09.. It seems that one of his brothers (A W Lawrence) had a fairly large role in pulling all the original material together for publication. Easily worth five stars from me. ( )