Lawrence of Arabia, A Biographical Enquiry

London: Collins, 1955. First edition. Hardcover. Fine copy/slightly worn dj. 8vo. Cloth. Pp. 448. Illustrated: frontispiece, (10) pp. of plates. Genealogical Tree of the Chapman Family. Maps. List of Sources. Bibliography. Index. With an Introductory Letter to Alister Kershaw. This biography, published twenty years after Lawrence's death, caused a storm because it revealed Lawrence's illegitimacy and his tendency towards self-aggrandisement. The friends of Lawrence, of whom there were many, rallied to his defence and were more than eager to express their anger. The Introductory Letter here is to Alister Kershaw, the friend who was the one who suggested this biography. Aldington lived another seven years after the book appeared, but they were plagued by the loss of his reputation and the decline of his health. Towards the end, Kershaw bought a house at Sury-en-Vaux, France (near Sancerre), for him to live in and where he died in 1962.