The golden reign: The story of my friendship with "Lawrence of Arabia"

by Clare Sydney Smith

Pocket library published by Cassell & Co. LTD. Printed in Great Britain by Wyman & Sons, Ltd, London Pocket edition 1949

190 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Donna Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have, should have been a much better book than it was. At the end of T.E. Lawrence's involvement in the Arab Revolt/Arab Cause, he needed a quiet life away from the attention constantly following him. To that end he enlisted in the RAF as Aircraftman Shaw, stationed at the Flying-Boat Station at Mount Batten, Plymouth under commander Sydney Smith. It was there that Lawrence found work that deeply interested him and time to enjoy music and reading, and he became close friends with Sydney Smiths. "The Golden Reign" was his own name for this happy period of his life. This book is the story of their friendship.

Most of the book deals with the work Lawrence did for the RAF, the boat trips and picnics, correspondence about when they could all get together.... I kept feeling that Clare Sydney Smith was intentionally omitting anything but the most trivial, perhaps out of consideration for Lawrence's privacy? I only wish she could have found a way of providing some deeper insight into Lawrence without compromising his privacy. Then it would have been a more satisfying book.

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

A personal portrait of TEL by the wife of his RAF C.O. Any such depiction is going to be suspect, if only because of its limited perspective. Moreso in this case, as Mrs. Smith harbored romantic feelings for Lawrence that he obviously didn't reciprocate. Still it's valuable for its very intimate look at Lawrence in his later years, generally happy and productive in the RAF, a distinctly different picture than the self-loathing scoundrel hiding out from the world.

[Kirsty Bain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried. A bittersweet story of friendship.