Widely known as "Lawrence of Arabia," T. E. Lawrence is best known for Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1922), an account of the successful Arab revolt that he led against the Turks in 1917-1918. He also wrote several other books, reports, and newspaper articles, both under the name T. E. Lawrence and under various other names, including John Hume Ross and T. E. Shaw. While his government reports and personal accounts of expeditions might not be taken as travel literature by some casual readers of the genre, they are incisive, sympathetic explorations of culture and geography that throw as much light on the complexities of the Arab world as they do on the European mind and politics of the time.

Thomas Edward Lawrence was born at Tremadoc, in Caernarvonshire, Wales, on 16 August 1888. He was the illegitimate son of Sir Thomas Chapman, who had left his wife and legitimate children in...