In the Footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia

by Charles Blackmore

In February 1985, fifty years after T. E. Lawrence was killed in a motor bicycle accident in Dorset, Captain Charles Blackmore and three others of the Royal Green Jackets Regiment set out to retrace Lawrence's exploits in the Arab Revolt during the First World War. Using Lawrence's classic account, "Seven Pillars of Wisdom," as their guide, the members of this expedition spent twenty-nine days with meagre supplies and under extreme conditions, riding and walking to the source of the Lawrence legend. What the young men discovered about Lawrence and the legend was matched only by what they discovered about themselves. Blackmore insisted on living as Lawrence as a true Bedouin. But it did not take long for the romantic images to vanish. Extreme heat, cold, virtually no food and little water, an inability to communicate with the Arabs and a growing realisation of their lack of preparation, all combined to turn their thoughts and fears to conspiracy. The author bases his account on a diary he kept of the expedition. As we explore and sometimes test the legend of "Lawrence of Arabia," we begin to understand that this was a commemorative venture in the best in modern Jordan it is unlikely ever to be repeated.

Hardcover

First published November 1, 2005

Reviews

[litost · Rating 4 out of 5]

A travelogue of four British soldiers and two Bedouin on a loop of Jordan by camel in search of the legend of Lawrence of Arabia. Written as a day-by-day log, it immersed me in what it feels like to live as a desert nomad for a month: poor food, uncompromising weather, uncomfortable camels, lice, and most difficult of all, unknowable Bedouin. A straight-forward, enjoyable tale.