"A Touch of Genius: The Life of T. E. Lawrence" by Malcolm Brown and Julia Cave, published in 1988 in Great Britain in hardback with dustjacket, 233pp, ISBN 0460047345

Condition Notes: Good condition copy with good condition dustjacket. The dustjacket is not price-clipped, but it is faded on the spine (sunning) and has some slight rubbing and crinkling to the edges and corners. Where the dustjacket folds round the front and back boards (to form the front and rear dustjacket flaps), the top and bottom edges are slightly worn and frayed. There is also some very slight rubbing to the top and bottom edges of the underlying boards

About this book: Recognized as an exceptional figure in his own lifetime, T. E. Lawrence has never ceased to arouse intense interest, and controversy, since his death in 1935. When a colleague of Lawrence's, the Honourable Aubrey Herbert, recorded his first impressions of him in 1914 he noted: 'Lawrence, an odd gnome, half cad  with a touch of genius.' Before the war was over, that 'touch of genius' had turned Lawrence into the most successful of the various liaison officers who fought in the Arab campaign with a reputation which as early as October 1917 was described by a senior-officer as 'overpowering'. 
Drawing on a wealth of material, much of it made available here for the first time, 'A Touch of Genius' presents an authentic portrait of the real Lawrence, from his schooldays, through his Middle Eastern years and his years in the ranks to the lonely, final weeks at Clouds Hill, his Dorset cottage on the road to which he had his fatal accident. Using persuasive evidence from important contemporary documents - many of which were embargoed for fifty years - the authors make it clear that Lawrence was widely regarded, and not only by the British, as a key figure both during the war and in the peace negotiations that followed. They also show how the excessive hero-worship he subsequently attracted helped to distort the rest of his life - and made him ripe for denigration after his death. Previously unpublished quotations from Lawrence's correspondence, including letters to Mrs. George Bernard Shaw and E.M. Forster, and important first-hand accounts from people close to him, such as his brother, A. W. Lawrence, Henry Williamson and Siegfried Sassoon, enrich the text and together with a remarkable array of visual material and rare photographs, strengthen the argument for a realistic appraisal of the Lawrence person.  What ultimately emerges is a credible but still very remarkable T.E. Lawrence as opposed to an incredible 'Lawrence of Arabia'  - indeed, a man of a very modern and very vulnerable sensibility who is far more interesting and relevant to us today than the cardboard saint-figure of the 1920s and 30s, or the crude charlatan of the 1950s and 60s

Contents: Preface
Note on Sources
The Spelling of Arabic Names
Introduction

1. Oxford Schoolboy
2. Young Man on a Bicycle
3. Student Crusader
4. Archaeologist
5. Intelligence Officer
6. Adviser to Feisal
7. From 'Witness' to 'Protagonist'
8. Reluctant Participant
9. Hero of Damascus
10. Political Activist
11. Aircraftman, Private, Aircraftman
12. Contented Mechanic
13. Casualty at Clouds Hill
Select Bibliography; Index

Postage: Order more than 1 item from us and postage discounts will be applied automatically at the checkout stage.

Please note that we do not sell to Russia, North Korea, Iran, or Belarus

Items mailed to Africa are sent tracked and signed. Economy, or standard delivery orders to Africa and Vietnam will not be accepted

Economy postage to Australasia can take up to 84 days; and to the Americas, 42 days, so please allow time for your item to arrive if you choose this (surface delivery)