'Seven Pillars...' is not just beautifully written (though that alone would be sufficient incentive to read it) - it traces the source of the soured relations between Europe and the Arab world following the Great War. Indeed, this tale of recruitment, arming and training of irregulars and their subsequent betrayal by foreign sponsors would be distastefully familiar subject matter for any observer of events of the 20th and early 21st centuries in the near and middle East. The promise of nationhood and self-determination to enlist help against a common enemy was dangled before the Arab peoples: a recognisable modus operandi, latterly to be visited time and again upon the restless and desperate.
Lawrence was "continually and bitterly ashamed" of the betrayal of the Bedouin, whose fierce loyalty and independence of spirit he clearly admired. It is sad, in many ways, that a similar vein of conscience is so signally absent from the characters who have latterly dabbled in the politics of the "Levant" - especially since, unlike Lawrence, they held the power to desist from their course.
This is in many respects a period-piece, and some of the author's attitudes may jar on a 21st century reader: however, the man was writing in and of his time, and to this reader at least, the integrity of his intent remains quite credible. I heartily recommend this book.
