Empire of Sand

In Robert Ryan’s newest book, Empire of Sand, he takes us back to the Middle East during the First World War. Ryan’s main protagonist is the legendary Thomas Edward Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia. The main focus of the story centers around the year 1915, before the Arab Revolt of 1916 and Lawrence’s [...]

James Barr on Lawrence of Arabia’s advices for Iraq

On his blog James Barr, the author of Setting the Desert on Fire, compares TE Lawrence’s advices for future Iraq from the early 1920′s with the present situation in the article “Iraq Today – Lawrence of Arabia’s Advice from Yesterday“. An interesting article about Britain’s role in what Winston Churchill according to James Barr called an “ungrateful volcano”.

Allenby’s fake camp

During the first world war the British forces, under the leadership of General Edmund Allenby, had tried and failed twice to take and hold the area of Transjordan. The goal had been to break the lines of the Ottoman Empire between Damascus and Medina. After two failed attacks with many casualties, Allenby shifted focus. Allenby’s [...]

Desert Castles

Scattered across the eastern desert of Jordan there are buildings and ruins that make out what is commonly known as desert castles. They are mostly a mixture of forts, caravanserais and hunting lodges, some bigger and better preserved than others. Most of them were built during the Umayyad-period, but some originate from Roman times, as [...]

Setting the Desert on Fire

Her ein dag kom eg over ei ny bok, Setting the Desert on Fire av James Barr, ein britisk historikar. Boka har undertittelen T. E. Lawrence and Britain’s Secret War in Arabia, 1916-18 og er like mykje ei skildring av Lawrence som den er av den britiske kampanjen i Arabia. Lawrence spelar den største personrolla [...]