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Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence was a legend by the time he was thirty. He captivated the imagination of the West with his Arab dress, his golden dagger in his belt, and his reputation for derring-do. Yet he died a solitary tragic death, alone in England.

World War One saw rapid change in the Middle East as the 500-year-old Ottoman Empire crumbled. To increase their influence, the British made approaches to Arab rulers in the area offering British support for an insurrection against the Ottomans. The Germans too, were circling, assisting the Turks with infrastructure projects such as the Berlin to Baghdad railway.

The railway was to be Lawrence's entrance into the war. At Oxford he been spotted by DG Hogarth, a prominent archeologist - and a spy. Hogarth persuaded Lawrence to work in the Middle East and the two set up an archeological dig near the site of the main German railway HQ. Later, during summer months off, Lawrence went off on his own, exploring the interior of the Saudi peninsula, eventually - as the only white man in the area - befriending local rulers.

Using Lawrence as a middleman, the British persuaded an Arab king, Hussein, to revolt against the Turks. The British - based in Egypt - promised Arab independence. Lawrence was given the job of estimating the leadership qualities of Hussein's three sons, and became diplomatic advisor to son number two - Feisal.

Their job was to disrupt the railway throughout the war, and keep German and Turkish movement along it to a minimum. Through a combination of sabotage and guerilla attacks, they kept 30,000 Turkish troops pinned down defending the line.

As the war turned the way of the Allies, the Arabs advanced. Feisal's forces came up the side of the Red Sea, taking Aqaba in a daring conflict planned by Lawrence who then crossed the Egyptian Sinai desert alone to announce the victory to the Allies. The advance continued, culminated by the Arabs' capture of Damascus. Feisal announced himself King of Syria.

It was not to be. In 1920, under the terms of a secret agreement negotiated by the British and the French, the Arab world was split into two spheres of influence. The Arabs had been betrayed: only Saudi Arabia gained its independence.

Lawrence returned home. He never got over his Middle Eastern experiences - most importantly his personal betrayal of Feisal. He took other jobs under pseudonyms, but was invariable found out by the press. At this time he began to write - although few of his books were published before his death. His most famous, the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, only had a print run of 100 copies, published for his friends.

Even Lawrence's death is somewhat mysterious. Aged 47 he was motor biking in the country when he was forced to swerve to avoid two boys on bikes. He was thrown from his motorbike, and, after six days in a coma, was pronounced dead.