The life of Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888-1935), or "Lawrence of Arabia," has assumed mythic proportions. A popular hero for his role in the 1916 Arab rebellion against Turkish rule, he has been hailed as a sensitive genius drawn into the mayhem of war and denounced as a fraud and imperialist agent who—on behalf of the British government—used his position as a British Army officer to double-cross his Arab allies. This revealing biography, illustrated with over seventy rare photos, recounts Lawrence's extraordinary life and probes his complex personality, detailing his celebrity and his relentless attempts to elude it, maneuverings that ended with his fatal motorcycle crash.