A Book which defies easy categorization. Somewhat of a guerilla war manual, or a poetic evocation of such a war, or a self-serving piece of literary expression, or, a plea for the acceptance of Arab centred nationalism in a post Ottoman war.. We readers do earn a certain amount about the major figures of the WWI war in Arabia, but little about the author. The book is best read with the illustratios the publisher commissioned, and as a sensual experience of heat. Not to be missed but I'm not very clear about the point of writing it. ( )

Crónica de guerra libro iniciático y cuaderno de bitácora de un profundo conocedor del desierto Los siete pilares de la sabiduría narra la historia del levantamiento árabe y muestra cómo un inglés educado en Oxford y más inclinado a las letras que a las armas puede convertirse por los azares de la guerra en héroe popular y líder guerrillero.

Far from home, a man with a mission
In the heat of the glistening sun
In the heart of ancient tradition
This man's journey has only begun
Lead the charge
A raider has entered the battlefield
Sabotage
The game is about to unfold
As the darkness falls and Arabia calls
One man spreads his wings, as the battle begins
May the land lay claim on to Lawrence name
Seven pillars of wisdom lights the flame
A revolt to gain independence
Hide and seek, hunters hot on their trail
Joined their ranks, obtained ( )

I was aware before starting that this was a somewhat unreliable account of the exploits of Lawrence on the Eastern Front during WWI but the Introduction introduced such a level of scepticism that it tainted my reading; I was forever wondering what was true, what was exaggerated, what entirely fabricated. The veracity of the account was challenged in a publication of 1955 that I don't have. I'd have much prefered to read a critical edition that put the book in the context of the known history so that truth and fiction could be easily separated - I don't know if such a thing exists, though.

Lawrence is at his best when describing landscape and action, at his worst when being judgemental, whether it be about history, peoples or individuals. The first half fled fairly fast but the second was a struggle for most of its length. It turns out that camel rides and raids on railways and bridges can become repetative and dull. Interest was re-ignited when the Allies turn up in force and events become novel again.

I know very little about WWI; my main impressions of it come from two books; All Quiet on the Western Front and this. The contrast between the Western and Eastern conflicts could hardly be greater, on this basis. The mud, trenches, gas attacks, whole-sale slaughter and stalemate of France and Belgium feel like a different world from the rock, sand, guerilla warfare and endless gadding about by horse, camel, plane and (Rolls Royce) car that Lawrence describes in the Middle East. Lawrence's account is rarely in the slightest bit romanticised, though, and hunger, thirst, battle and death are treated in a most matter-of-fact manner that contrasts both with the myth of Lawrence of Arabia on the one hand and the deliberately political and horrifying verse of Sassoon and his fellow War Poets. ( )

> Par Le Monde.fr : "Les Sept Piliers de la sagesse", de T. E. Lawrence : dans les pas de Lawrence d'Arabie
16 juil. 2009 ... L'auteur des "Sept Piliers de la sagesse" avait coupé et récrit son texte avant parution. C'est la version longue, plus facile à lire, qui nous est proposée aujourd'hui ...