T.E. Lawrence Biography - Young Lawrence: A Portrait of the Legend as a Young Man | Historical Figure Book for History Enthusiasts & Middle East Studies" （注：根据要求： 1. 增加了关键词"T.E. Lawrence Biography"和"Historical Figure Book"提升SEO 2. 原标题为英文无需翻译 3. 补充了使用场景"for History Enthusiasts & Middle East Studies" 4. 保持标题可读性的同时控制字符数）

Although less than perfect I simply loved reading this book. I have enjoyed collecting and reading T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) biographies and his writings (especially his letters) for years. It has been great to see a renewed interest in Lawrence and his legacy as we enter the 100th anniversary of World War I. For those not familiar with Lawrence (or perhaps only introduced by the great but inaccurate David Lean film with Peter O'Toole) I suggest beginning with a full biography of his life that details his exceptional military and political accomplishments in the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkey in support of Arab nationalism. And how that support was undermined by the French and British after the war insistent on implementation of more colonialism nation building with "the folly of the imperialists...repeated". All leading to the disaster that is today's Middle East. (My suggestions would include, A Prince of our Disorder, the Life of T.E. Lawrence by John E Mack, The Authorized Biography of T. E. Lawrence by Jeremy Wilson, or the recent Michael Korda book Hero, The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia. Or the new interesting book by Scott Anderson, Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East which contains several biographies in addition to that of Lawrence.) All of these include some information on Lawrence as a young man, his family and attraction to the Middle East.So why then a book focusing on just the young Lawrence? This is a question Sattin even asked himself. His answer is compelling... he wanted to understand why Lawrence burned his first book entitled SEVEN PILLARS of WISDOM a month after England entered World War One. (Lawrence only saved the title for his masterpiece written just after the war which focused only as his memoir of the Arab Revolt.) And he wanted to learn what had prepared and motivated Lawrence for his unique role in the Arab Revolt. The exploits that earned Lawrence his immortality thanks in part to the media machine of Lowell Thomas.Sattin does wander about in his narrative and from time to time inserts his analysis and opinions, yet he does a remarkable job of telling an adventure story, a coming of age story, and brilliantly along the way humanizes Lawrence. I felt I got to know and understand Lawrence better than ever before and that I think is the books true accomplishment. There are many stories included of his education and school friendships, his brothers, and relationship with mentors and the fear of and concern with his Mother's approval. His relationship with the camel boy he befriends, Dahoum is fully explored and powerfully personalized without being sexual. Much of the book covers his years exploring Crusader Castles and as an archaeologist outside modern day Aleppo, Syria... Carchemish (an area that today being torn by a vicious religious civil war Lawrence predicted).Lawrence will always remain an enigma to most biographers. My view is that he was born to live between two worlds... of two dreams of Crusaders and Knights and English imperialism and the world of dreams for nationalism and freedom. He became that true specialist problem solver studying because of a unique personal interest and passion which developed a usefulness in a War he had hoped would come and free the Arabs. Sattin adds to this the dreams of the personal and private.Lawrence burned his first book because he thought he might be killed in the war. And something most personal was in his manuscript he wished to remain private especially from his Mother for whom he felt she would not have understood. The book is all that he burned. He did not burn his diaries, nor his thesis on Crusader Castles, nor his extensive letters.He did not learn until two years later in 1918 that Dahoum had died most likely in Lawrence's house at the Carchemish, Syria of typhoid fever in 1916. Lawrence always said that he had a personal reason beyond the military or political reason to lead the Arabs to independent freedom. The answer may be in the first lines of his poem written in the opening of SEVEN PILLARS of WISDOM for Dohoum. The gift of freedom was for Dahoum. "I loved you. So I drew these tides of men into my hands and wrote my will across the sky in stars. To earn you freedom, the seven pillared worthy house that your eyes might be shinning for me...When we came."