Behind the Lawrence legend

T. E. Lawrence became world-famous as "Lawrence of Arabia" after helping Sherif Hussein of Mecca gain independence from Turkey during the Arab Revolt of 1916-18. His achievements, however, would have been impossible without the unsung efforts of a forgotten band of fellow officers and spies. This groundbreaking account by Philip Walker interweaves the compelling stories of Colonel Cyril Wilson and a colorful supporting cast with the narrative of Lawrence and the desert campaign. These men's lost tales provide a remarkable and fresh perspective on Lawrence and the Arab Revolt. While Lawrence and others blew up trains in the desert, Wilson and his men carried out their shadowy intelligence and diplomatic work. His deputies rooted out anti-British soldiers who were trying to sabotage the revolt. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Lionel Gray, a cipher officer, provided a gateway into unknown aspects of the revolt through his previously unpublished photographs and eyewitness writings. Wilson's crucial influence underpinned all these missions and steadied the revolt on a number of occasions when it could have collapsed. Without Wilson and his circle there would have been no "Lawrence of Arabia." Wilson's band mostly fell through the cracks of history into obscurity. Behind the Lawrence Legend reveals their vital impact and puts Lawrence's efforts into context, helping to set the record straight for one of the most beguiling and iconic characters of the twentieth century. The author Philip Walker was "born in 1949 and is a retired archaeologist and historian. He worked for English Heritage and its Government Department predecessor for thirty-six years, mainly as an Inspector of Ancient Monuments. Liaising with Druids, witches and other committed pagans, who were passionately opposed on spiritual grounds to an English Heritage-sponsored archaeological excavation, was an unusual project. None became life members of English Heritage, but this was an intriguing as well as challenging time. Philip Walker has travelled in recent years to various parts of Libya and Palestine (West Bank). He has also travelled in Morocco, Xinjiang (the autonomous Muslim region of northwest China) and other parts of Central Asia. He enjoys going to Antibes in the South of France where his daughter owns a vegetarian restaurant. Philip Walker’s writing developed from a chance find, at a car boot market, of an original Arab Revolt diary from 1916. Research showed that its owner was on an unknown British intelligence-sponsored camel buying mission in Arabia. He decided to try to track down similar “unknown unknowns” by tracing the descendants of about twenty Arab Revolt officers and intelligence operatives, many forgotten or barely known. The trail led to Australia, Canada, the United States, Panama, Jamaica, Ireland, Denmark and all over Great Britain. He discovered some stunning collections of photographs, letters, diaries and intelligence documents, still with the families concerned. This new primary source material, linked to archives dealing with known players including T. E. Lawrence, has led to his first book which gives a groundbreaking new account of the Arab Revolt, and the crucial role of the forgotten few officers who helped to shape it." from https://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/authors/philip-walker