Amazon.com
This is the exciting and highly literate story of the real Lawrence of Arabia, as written by Lawrence himself, who helped unify Arab factions against the occupying Turkish army, circa World War I. Lawrence has a novelist's eye for detail, a poet's command of the language, an adventurer's heart, a soldier's great story, and his memory and intellect are at least as good as all those. Lawrence describes the famous guerrilla raids, and train bombings you know from the movie, but also tells of the Arab people and politics with great penetration. Moreover, he is witty, always aware of the ethical tightrope that the English walked in the Middle East and always willing to include himself in his own withering insight.
Book Description
The monumental work that assured T.E. Lawrence's place in history as "Lawrence of Arabia." Not only a consummate military history, but also a colorful epic and a lyrical exploration of the mind of a great man who helped shape the Middle East as it exists today.
Customer Reviews:
A Unique Masterpiece.......2007-09-25
This is one of the great books of the 20th century. That it could be written at all is almost a miracle in itself. Take a brilliant Oxford student trained in the old classical tradition, place him in the Arabian desert as advisor to the wild Bedouin tribesmen during their revolt against the Turks and have him write with an acute sensitivity and unparalleld insight into what was transpiring before him and you may have some notion of what the book is like.
It's a long book. You will learn a great deal about blowing up a railroad bridge in the desert, about camel rides, thirst, and hunger and the heroism and brutality of war. The portraits of Sheik Auda, Sherrif Ali and Prince Faisal of the two Arab boys who Lawrence takes under his wing are masterpieces in and of themselves. The nobility and savagery of the desert tribesmen contrasted with the cold stoicism of the British and the inculcated cruelty of the Turks are just some of themes addressed during the course of the work. There are brilliant passing insights as to the Semitic inspiration for all the revealed religions and their relation to the desert beautiful descripitions of the terrain the weather and the obstacles encountered. When Lawrence says that from the beginning he believed the Arab revolt would succeed because it grew out of a sympathetic population was opposed by a modern army that could not garrison the territory occupied one wishes that President Bush had read it instead of just seeing the movie. Read it yourself.
The Hejaz War.......2007-06-10
The Hejaz War of 1917 was written by Colonel T.E. Lawrence at the Paris peace talks in 1920 -21. Lawrence understood the Arabs thay did not conquer territory but they brought the Arab tribes together to conquer the Ottoman Turkish Army whom they considered poor soldiers. The Hejaz is the Red Sea coast parallel to the extinct lava fields of the 3,000m high Hejaz mountains. The Hejaz railway, linking Damascus with Medina, was attacked by Lawrence's Hejaz army until the Turks could no longer repair it. The Seven Pillars of Wisdom is the bible of Guerilla Warfare and should be read by General Petraeus US Armed Forces Commander, Iraq.
The taking of Damascus intact in 1918 by the arab army before General Allenby's allied army at least ensured Sheikh Feisal became King of Iraq. The Sykes -Picot treaty of 1916 ensured the Middle East was divided up by Britain and France directly leading to the present Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Stylistic autobiography with insight.......2007-01-09
Mr. TE Lawrence was not only a gifted tactician/strategist but also a scholar of the highest order. His writing style is rich and descriptive avoiding the dry pitfalls sometimes associated with autobiographies. The story of the Arab revolt from the man who helped shape and guide it is an invaluable resource to have. TE Lawrence's thoughts on irregular/unconventional warfare are insightful and still lessons to be rememembered today. An enjoyable and insightful read- perfect for any military history collection.
Learning the Arab way.......2007-01-05
For me, the complexity of the Middle East seemed unfathomable. By reading this book, carefully, delving into the author's text, I have a better understanding of the people of the Middle East and their many tribes and cultural ways. I also can begin to understand their rivalries and methods of dealing with each other. It is a very complex society that will take the USA years to understand and deal with.
Extraordinary - History and the Man.......2006-11-10
At a critical time, the right man steeped forward (if somewhat indirectly) to encourage an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. This classic war novel is more than the usual, as it reveals a character tortured with self analysis.
Highly recommended.
Customer Reviews:
The Leader in Corporate Social Performance.......2007-07-17
The book is very pricy compared to Jim Collins books. However, for a college textbook it is an average price.
As for what is inside the book, there is nothing average about it. The first edition of this book was published in in the 1960's by Prof's Keith Davis and Robert Blomstrom. Since then, it has been updated with new data that further proves the benefits of measuring a triple bottom line.
In Part 1, the authors introduce the argument for, and benefits of, Stakeholder Theory.
In Part 2, the doctrine of Corporate Social Responsibility is introduced, and demonstrates examples of how a firm can manage its relations with Stakeholders.
Part 3 is an excellent treatment of business ethics and why it is important to a profitable business model.
Part 4 discusses the effects of globalization, as well as management of government policy and treatment of anti-trust.
Part 5 discusses a company's responsibility to the environment and ecology.
Part 6 discusses the roles, challenges, and opportunities in technology.
Part 7 is the meatiest, and I argue the most valuable, portion of the book. It includes five chapters on building stakeholder relationships, to include the controversies in the Board of Directors and Officer compensation, consumer protection, labor relations, diversity, and media/public relations.
This book is more than just common sense. The organization provides for a great overview of the subject, including some topics you may not have thought of. The case studies are a fantastic way to dig deeper into the material. The strategies and real-world examples will benefit anyone who wishes to introduce more responsibility into their corporation and reap the benefits.
Without this book being required reading in business school, many students may never consider these topics, especially in the framework of Stakeholder Theory. I think the world will be a better place when more students are introduced to this textbook and embrace the ideas therein.
good.......2007-07-08
Excellent condition. Delivery was a little slow. Great service if you are not in a rush to get the book.
All common sense.......2007-02-11
everything in this book is common sense. There is really very little to learn from this, and it is overpriced.
robbery.......2007-01-18
what a rip off 150$ for this stupid book. the writers should be arrested
Product Description
early edition of Lawrence's classic account of his Arabian adventure.
Customer Reviews:
a revised edition of the 1922 Oxford Text.......2007-01-07
First, let me say I do not own this edition, but I have looked through it. I own a copy of the original 1922 Oxford Text of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom. T E Lawrence felt his original text was too long, so he made two revisions, of which this is one. Bernard Shaw felt his original 1922 Oxford Text was a masterpiece needing no editing. Although the revisions do not flow as well as the original text, this is and will always be considered a literary masterpiece. Whether you're interested in history, cultural awareness and/or travel, this will always be an outstanding book.
I had not the patience to triumph over it.......2006-06-19
This is the book upon which the fabulous film "Lawrence of Arabia" was supposedly based. I expected the book to be the same story, only with more depth and more meat to it. Instead, I discovered two things: the film is only loosely based upon the book; the book is more of a journal than a novel.
Film versus Book: In several instances, the film takes two to five different people and condenses them into one character. More accurately, a character in the film represents one real person, but engages in the activities of two to five different people, whereas the book tries to fairly attribute actions to the right person, creating a much larger cast. This does three things: the film's characters become larger-than-life (which fits an epic film well), this makes the film's story move faster and be somewhat more straightforward than the book's, and this levels the playing field (by condensing the other characters, they are more comparable to Lawrence's character in the film, whilst the book's non-central characters are always in Lawrence's shadow).
Journal versus Novel: The film's story moves linearly and, despite the film's length, the story moves quickly. Only necessary details are shown. In the book, Lawrence gives an account of his daily activities, with sidebar accounts of what happens elsewhere that affects him, creating a very detailed and somewhat disjointed narrative. In my opinion, the story drowns in its own details.
Overall: The film is actually a distillation of this book, and not a cinematic rendering of the same story. If a reader wants to understand the Middle East, from the perspective of an Englishman with sympathy for and understanding of the Arabs, this is an excellent book. If the reader wants an adventure saga, comparable to the glorious "Lawrence of Arabia", look elsewhere or risk disillusionment.
A view of warfare from a bygone era.......2005-11-02
I will echo the sentiments of previous reviewers in extolling the remarkable style of Seven Pillars...the detailed descriptions of the desert and the bedu bring the reader right into the book.
I was taken aback by the distinct differences between the book and the movie, even with having a good working knowledge of this era. For those who only know Lawrence from the movie, please read this book to get a more balanced perspective of Lawrence, and his role in the Arab Revolt.
What is not commonly known is that Lawrence did have his detractors, who also published their versions of the Revolt. Of note, Maj N.N.E Bray wrote "A Paladin of Arabia" about Leachman, who Bray believes Lawrence attempted to emulate; and also "Shifting Sands". By having read all 3 books, it might level the playing field, and ascertain some ground truth about a truly remarkable facet of WWI.
THis book is a must for WWI history buffs, and also for those who are interested in the emergence of the ARab Nationalist movement, and the origins of how the Middle East came to be what we know of it today.
5 Stars, an amazing read.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom -Op/21.......2005-09-22
This is my second round with this book. I read the book while in high school and enjoyed the book very much. This time I'm reading the book for pure enjoyment. I spent time in the middle east and understand the mind set a little better.
Lawrence hits the nail on the head all through the book when describing the way things were and at times continues to be in the region.
the laurence of arabia story.......2004-01-19
the movie is well known--this is the biography from te laurence detailing the fascinating military life of the british officer amongst the arabs bedouin as they took on the turks. i read a first edition copy of this book and it had some incredible sketches in the book
Amazon.com
The Arab world, writes Palestinian scholar Fouad Ajami, has been beset for years by divisions: religious, social, economic, and political. Many of these divisions came to the fore during the time of the Persian Gulf War, a "foreigners' rescue" in response to Saddam Hussein's attempt to seize Kuwait, which was, Ajami hints, in part a reaction against Iranian designs on the Gulf. Even those Arab intellectuals who supported Allied intervention at the time are now questioning whether it was the best solution to what they believe was a local problem. Ajami writes of the role of some of these intellectuals in shaping the culture of the region, among them the Lebanese writer Khalil Hawi, who committed suicide in the wake of Israel's invasion of his country in 1982. He also examines the terror that religious fundamentalists have been visiting on secular states such as Egypt, "a country with a remarkable record of political stability" that, Ajami believes, will be able to ride out the present storm. Ajami's essays will be most revealing for students of contemporary politics and Arabic history.
Book Description
From Fouad Ajami, an acclaimed author and chronicler of Arab politics, comes a compelling account of how a generation of Arab intellectuals tried to introduce cultural renewals in their homelands through the forces of modernity and secularism. Ultimately, they came to face disappointment, exile, and, on occasion, death. Brilliantly weaving together the strands of a tumultuous century in Arab political thought, history, and poetry, Ajami takes us from the ruins of Beirut's once glittering metropolis to the land of Egypt, where struggle rages between a modernist impulse and an Islamist insurgency, from Nasser's pan-Arab nationalist ambitions to the emergence of an uneasy Pax Americana in Arab lands, from the triumphalism of the Gulf War to the continuing anguished debate over the Israeli-Palestinian peace accords.
For anyone who seeks to understand the Middle East, here is an insider's unflinching analysis of the collision between intellectual life and political realities in the Arab world today.
Customer Reviews:
The Failed Awakening .......2005-10-23
This book is an absorbing blend of history and literary criticism. A somewhat melancholy narrative of the political and economic failure of the Arab World in the 20th century, it is also a study of Arab intellectual currents of the time. The author chronicles the lives and the thoughts of these intellectuals from the heyday of modernity in the middle of the century through pan-Arabism, secular nationalism and Nasserism.
The great dream of an Arab Awakening failed miserably. The total defeat of 1967 was a turning point in the move towards religious fundamentalism whilst the increased oil revenue after 1973 only exacerbated the fragmentation of the Arab World into brutal fascist regimes, medieval theocracies and oiligarchies.
There were and are exceptions to the majority of intellectuals who were united mainly in their hatred of Israel, like the Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz, the Palestinian academic Sari Nusseibeh and a few others. According to Ajami's insightful analyses, repeated failure led to extremism and further disasters and thus the cycle of hopelessness continued.
This book was published in 1998 so it preceded the expressions of more murderous nihilism as seen in 9/11, the further intifada against Israel and the genocide in Darfur. The embrace of religious fundamentalism has been facilitated by the nihilistic utopianism of writers like Edward Said and others. One of the results of this regrettable trend has been the more severe oppression of minorities like the Christian Copts in Egypt.
The book is illuminating on many levels: the Shia/Sunni divide, The Iranian revolution and Arab perceptions of it, The Oslo accords, Iraq's war against Iran and Kuwait, the assassination of Sadat and the attitudes of the Arab intelligentsia towards Israel.
Dream Palace Of The Arabs is a most enlightening read for those who wish to understand the tragic history of the Middle East. The work is scholarly and well researched, but the writing has a riveting and poetic quality that keeps the reader captivated throughout.
engaging.......2005-05-05
Perhaps Ajami's best: a legendary (and, for some, inconveniently seminal) text in the field of Middle Eastern studies and Arab psychology.
The basic thesis is that the hopelessness of modern Arabs (in such fields as medicine, politics, education, economics -- even warfare) stems from their insistence on perceiving and, in turn, constructing their reality out of words, out of rhetoric, out of the incantatory and soothing effect of flowery or mystical verbiage, rather than out of the zillions of nagging and undeniable clues that the external world keeps jabbing them with.
It's a lot more interesting than I'm making it sound, though.
Obituary for a modernizing generation.......2004-09-28
The extremism that seems to pervade the Middle East is neither the region's predestined endpoint nor is it a historical inevitability-rather, it is a condition that sprung out from the failure of a great generation of reformers and free-thinkers that lived in the middle of the twentieth century, and whose passing away by the 1990s marked the triumph of theocracy and backwardness in the Middle East.
"The Dream Palace of the Arabs" is the sequel to the "Arab Predicament," which Fouad Ajami, a Lebanese professor at Johns Hopkins, published in 1980; back then, Mr. Ajami was younger and "approached [his] material more eager to judge." In the "Arab Predicament," he bemoaned the Arab political experience; in "The Dream Place of the Arabs" he tries to "appreciate what had gone into the edifice that Arabs had built."
This literary journey chronicles the birth of a generation of modernizing Arabs that fought and lost the case for modernity. The history of the past seventy years is narrated through the life of authors and their works-what they wrote, how the societies around them reacted, and how the political condition merged with their literary expression, only to suppress it and silence it.
As a parallel history, "The Dream Palace of the Arabs" could accompany any book. But in looking at the literary interplay between modernizing authors and their surroundings, Mr. Ajami has not only dug deeper in his probe of what brought about the present Arab political condition, but has analyzed the issue on a whole other level.
The reader who is familiar with Middle Eastern history will not feel burdened by the material. The refreshing tone and approach allows Mr. Ajami to deal with such issues as the Iranian revolution, the Egyptian peace with Israel, the Palestinian battle with Israel, or the Iran-Iraq with refreshing erudition and acumen that always excites and never bores.
"The Dream Palace of the Arabs" cannot serve as an introduction to the Middle East; it is too subtle and perceptive for that; but for anyone who is tired of reading about oil politics, religious fundamentalism and elusive peace deals, and who is actually interested in the underlying intellectual currents upon which the Arab political storm thrives, "The Dream Palace of the Arabs" is a sure bet.
Uncle Tom.......2003-12-19
As was written by another "(Fouad Ajami) has no axe to grind unlike Ed (sic) Said". True anough Ajami is far too busy being a perfect hound fetching and in his case delivering his master's newspaper. If you want to hear the message you expect to hear because it comforts you read this. But if you wish to know about what is out there give it a rain check
Just OK..........2003-03-11
I found any of Tom Friedman's books to be an easier and more comprehensible read. I am not a full time student of the middle east, although I like Dr. Ajami.
Average customer rating:
- An unavoidable piece of work on Lawrence's life
- Wonderfully thorough Research
- Almost as eloquent as Lawrence himself
- We Will Never See Its Like Again
- Fresh, engaging view
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A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T. E. Lawrence
John E. Mack
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
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ASIN: 0674704940 |
Book Description
When this Pulitzer Prize-winning biography first appeared in 1976, it rescued T. E. Lawrence from the mythologizing that had seemed to be his fate. In it, John Mack humanely and objectively explores the relationship between Lawrence's inner life and his historically significant actions. Extensive interviews, far-flung correspondence, access to War Office dispatches and unpublished letters provide the basis for Mack's sensitive investigation of the psychiatric dimensions of Lawrence's personality. In addition, Mack examines the pertinent history, politics, and sociology of the time in order to weigh the real forces with which Lawrence contended and which impinged upon him.
Customer Reviews:
An unavoidable piece of work on Lawrence's life.......2006-12-23
While searching for literature on the man in the movie `Lawrence of Arabia', otherwise unknown to me other than knowing him as the brother of D.H. Lawrence, I stumbled across this most authoritative biography on the man who David Lean so magnificently portrayed in his film. He is one of the men who could be placed in par with other great leaders of Britain during the early part of the 20th century.
While Lawrence's autobiography, `Seven Pillars of Wisdom' gives gory picture of his life in the desert and his adventurous war campaigns, Mack's book gives more insight into the man's psyche just as Judith Brown did on Gandhi in her book `Gandhi - A Prisoner of hope'. His many questionable traits (exhibitionism, homosexual tendancies, overemphasis of his achievements) are wonderfully analyzed with information gleaned from tons of historical materials. While the west looked at him as a great war commander (though some question his contributions during the great desert wars), the east, even the people who worked with him, do not consider him as a man who helped Arabs gain their freedom from Turks other than agreeing to the fact that he helped king Faisel in wars.
Lawrence's genius is considered twined with his behavioral disorder, a not so common association among people who have schizophrenic symptoms except may be for rare cases of autistic geniuses like Peter Guthrie (not the Scottish mathematician but a not so well-known artist). There have been debates during his later years as whether Lawrence was in fact an autistic. At any rate, as reflected in one of his most famous quotes, he was a `dangerous' daydreamer who dreamt with open eyes and made things happen unlike night dreamers who dream in their dusty recesses of their minds only to wake up in the morning to see they are vain.
T.E. Lawrence's life and his untimely death (by motorbike accident) left us with lot of questions as who was he and what was he doing in the middle east and what made him to completely depart from the politics of middle east and lead a secluded life of 23 years in the Royal Air Force (not forgetting his contributions to the invention of new types of speed boats). His appearances in Arab's traditional attire in Versailles during 1919 Paris Peace Conference with the King Faisel and with other western dignitaries draw a stark similarity with Gandhi's appearance in loin cloth and shawl during the Round Table Conference at London. Though Faisal trusted him as his benevolent, he did not entrust Lawrence completely as he always thought him as a British spy.
I would suggest anyone who is inquisitive of T.E. Lawrence, also see David Lean's much acclaimed epic motion picture `Lawrence of Arabia'. If the movie `Lawrence of Arabia' captivated me, Mack's biography enthralled me with its abundance of well researched information. As with any other great men, Lawrence's life also is worth researching into. And these biographers are the ones who make legends live and help sustain the new generations' interest on these great people. A great biographical work!
Mere coincidence or not, John E. Mack died of a car accident in New York in 2004.
Wonderfully thorough Research.......2005-01-05
I have now read several books both on T.E. Lawrence, the Middle East, World War I and English governmental history. This is by far the best biography on T.E. Lawrence and the situation in the Middle East that I have read. John Mack did an outstanding job of researching Lawrence for this book. One of the most interesting sections of the book was reading the endnotes. They provide even more information about Mack's research as well as to clarify some previous misstatements about Lawrence.
Although Lawrence suffered greatly from depression and other disorders he was a truly great man. That he was able to be an outstanding friend to so many people while enduring personal suffering is amazing. John Mack portrays Lawrence in an honest light which actually makes Lawrence and his achievements all the more spectacular because of his personal struggles.
John Mack's biography shows us that great people are not perfect nor does their greatness make them happy. He also shows that people who, if truth were know, live outside of societies norms can do world changing things and be loved by society. Lawrence seemed to have been very accepting of all people, other than himself.
To call Lawrence's life tragic in some way diminishes his accomplishments. Was Lawrence a great man because of his problems or in spite of his problems? I think that Lawrence was capable of being a legend because of his problems. The psychological struggles he endured were who he was. Society is so quick to discount a person because of psychological problems, whether they are great people or not. If society were honest with itself, it would realize that everyone has some problem or other. Some, as Lawrence was, are open (relatively) and honest about their problems while most choose to act as if they don't exist.
Winston Churchill, a contemporary of Lawrence's, also suffered greatly from depression and probably some other things as well. Churchill was also hero and a legend and was largely responsible for keeping the world free from Nazi Germany when few noticed the threat or appropriately dealt with it.
It appears to me, that the greater the leader and the more astounding his or her abilities, the more "different" they are from what society believes is normal. A good thought to ponder.
John Mack does an excellent job of providing a well-documented biography of T.E. Lawrence as well as an outline of his psychological makeup. Mack does not claim to understand Lawrence or to explain every behavior. I had expected to read more of a detailed psychological report and was, at first, a bit disappointed. However, the longer I read the more apparent it was that Mack was portraying Lawrence's personality through an accurate telling of his story rather than trying to lecture on "who Lawrence really was" and "why he did everything he did". John Mack also did not fall into the overly Freudian theory that Lawrence did everything because of sex. Sex obviously played a role in his psychology but did not appear to be the overriding theme.
Almost as eloquent as Lawrence himself.......2004-08-19
Dr. John Mack's study of Lawrence is one of the most absorbing reads I've ever enjoyed in my lifetime. As Irving Howe wrote, "What finally draws one to Lawrence, making him not merely an exceptional figure, but a representative man of our century, is his courage and vulnerability in bearing the burden of consciousness." The impact that the trial by fire in Arabia appears to have had on his post-war life is shocking, and teaches us once again not to envy our great heroes. Lawrence wrote of General Allenby that great men cannot be judged by ordinary standards, anymore than the sharpness of the bow of an ocean liner can be judged by the sharpness of a razor. After reading "A Prince of Our Disorder," I recognize now that Lawrence was probably thinking of himself while writing those kind words about his former master, asking that he not be be judged by his hidden afflictions, torments, and self-doubts, all the while laying out those same imperfections for all the world to read. Lawrence warned us,"The documents are liars ... No man ever yet tried to write down the entire truth of any action in which he has been engaged." No man is truly capable of understanding his own subconscious motivations, but I doubt that anyone has ever struggled harder than Lawrence to achieve self-understanding. We will have to try to read between the lines, learn what we can, and apply that knowledge to enrich our own poor lives.
So sad for all of us that our leaders are not of the same introspective type. Dr. Mack comments in his introduction that "The destructive leader, and the eagerness of a large segment of the population to identify with him, comprise one of the central threats -- if not the greatest threat -- that faces human society. There is perhaps an increasing unwillingness to entrust our well-being and our lives to individuals and characters we do not understand and whose ultimate purposes we are ignorant of." Let's hope so.
Jeremy Wilson's massive biography "Lawrence of Arabia" may better satisfy military readers interested in extensive contemporary document citations, and includes much more detail on Lawrence's Cairo years. Wilson also has a better set of photographs. The 1922 Oxford full text of "Seven Pillars of Wisdom," edited by Jeremy and Nicole Wilson and available from Castle Hill Press in the UK, is most highly recommended to all who find "T.E.L." fascinating.
We Will Never See Its Like Again.......2004-01-10
For years, I have studied the life and works of T. E. Lawrence. My research has lead me across the pages of hundreds of books including his own Seven Pillars of Wisdom, but the best biography and analysis of Lawrence I have yet encountered is A Prince of Our Disorder.
Dr. Mack's thorough examination and explanation of the effect of Lawrence's childhood on his adult life and mentality is brilliant. Instead of merely stating his opinions, he touches on those of other biographers as well and then proceeds to state how and why he feels they are accurate or inaccurate, providing quotes from military reports, other Lawrence books, interviews with Lawrence's relatives and friends, and Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
If you read A Prince of Our Disorder, I can almost 100% gaurantee that you will have a better understanding of Lawrence's personal role in the Hejaz Campaign and the lasting effects of his experiences in Arabia on him physically and psychologically. Thankfully, it is beautifully written, and not at all confusing.
From the moment Mack "introduces" you to Lawrence you will have a desire to learn more about him, and as Mack walks you through his troubled life, you will feel pity and awe for this untouchable man.
I think that A Prince of Our Disorder clarifies the line between the legend of the indestructable, hero-Lawrence and the lost, soul-searching man Lawrence really was.
Fresh, engaging view.......2003-10-01
I've been studying the life of Lawrence nearly all of my own 50 years, since I was thirteen. I've read and reread all I could find about him, especially his own Seven Pillars of Wisdom. How refreshing it was to read Professor Mack's excellent book which covers so much more than I'd ever found before and with surprisingly brilliant insight. A fresh look at this enigmatic figure with modern eyes and a richer understanding. A great read.
Book Description
Business and Society: Corporate Strategy, Public Policy and Ethics, by Post, Lawrence and Weber was the first book to be published in the field of business and society and is the market leader! For over thirty years, Business and Society has been updated and reinvented in response to society¿s relationship to business. Post, Lawrence and Weber discuss the social and ethical impacts of business. Business and Society, 10e highlights why government regulation is sometimes required as well as new models of business-community collaboration. Business and Society, 10e is a book with a point of view. Post, Lawrence and Weber believe that businesses have social (as well as economic) responsibilities to society; that business and government both have important roles to play in the modern economy; and that ethics and integrity are essential to personal fulfillment and to business success.
Customer Reviews:
This book was very well written and comprehesive........1999-02-08
Most textbooks do a very poor job of addressing current issues in a clear, accurate, concise manner. This book, however, is to be commended. I especially found the resource information and discussion cases to be a tremendous benefit. The discussion questions and current event topics encourage the students to explore these issues outside of class, in their businesses and in the community. Business and society is a topic of extreme importance. Unfortunately, it often goes overlooked in so many universities and colleges. Overall, I rank this book as a worthwhile investment and hope the authors continue to explore these important issues in business and education.
Not ideal for Students, like me.......1998-12-06
I found this book exremely biased, especially on its treatment of ethics and environmentalism, which were extremely collectivistic and altruistic. I felt like I was also overcharged for the text book, for something so vaguely written.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent book but the paperback edition reduces it by half.......2006-06-16
The 5 stars are for the hardback version of the book, not the paperback. Why?
The Jeremy Wilson book about T. E. Lawrence is the best and most accurate book ever written about Lawrence, but the paperback edition of the book has been edited down to about half the size of the hardback, from 1188 pages to slightly less than 500 pages. That's a huge reduction! Therefore it's better to buy the hardback copy and not the paperback.
Restating history in the shadow of a great movie.......2003-09-14
The hero of David Lean's cinematic masterpiece of 1962 is unforgettable to anyone who has seen this marvelous movie. Jeremy Wilson attempts a meticulous, factual biography of T. E. Lawrence. His book provides a less romantic portrayal of Lawrence, who however remains a towering and distinctive personality, but emerges more as a tragic hero than the movie character. Wilson shows Lawrence's compromises with the diplomatic maneuverings of Britain and France come to the fore in this book. Another interesting chapter of Lawrence's life --not shown in the movie -- is his own writings. This book explains the context in which Lawrence's own work Seven Pillars of Wisdom came into being. While there have been several other books on Lawrence, this one is easily one that serves as the basic reference, and which looks at other biographies, some of which questions Lawrence's own accounts of his life. In one of two appendices, for example, Wilson takes up a controversy surrounding the veracity of Lawrence's claim and torture at Deraa (which is strongly hinted in the scene in the movie where Lawrence is tortured by his Turkish captors). Overall, this book is invaluable for anyone with a curiosity to go beyond the movie.
Good overview but leave many questions open.......2003-06-01
This book is a good read and interesting for people who want to get a good overview on the topic and are interested in history. The author sticks to the facts and let Lawrence speak through his letters. This, however, lets many questions of his character open. The author avoids getting deeper into his personality and for those who are interested in the psychology of his character will be a littlebit disappointed. The author does not (like one of the reviewers says) clearifies whether he was homosexual or not, nor does he discusses deeply his relationsship his parents and so on. The book is complementary to the film which makes a better statement about his personality and after reading this book I even more impressed about the film.
The Best Bio of Lawrence: Factually and Objectively.......2001-11-11
Jeremy Wilson's bio of T.E. Lawrence is a great resource and, for a subject so riddled (more than any other I know) by ulterior motive by other authors -- whether it is hero-building or hero-trouncing -- and is probably the only worthwhile biography of TEL ever written.*
*I will give exception to Robert Graves, who's work has literary merit, but its age and rushed composition leaves it unfortunately incomplete and inadequate in points of fact.
Wilson does a great job of putting Lawrence's accomplishements and failures during the Great War into context: a great deal of the book is spent on the background policies and overall Eastern war effort to show us exactly where Lawrence fit in. A great description of Larwrence's time as a young idealist in Syria before the war is also provided. In these two areas there is no greater work provided on Lawrence. However, I find the work loses its scholarly charm after the war, where too much is spent dwelling on the possible pyschological underpinnings of Lawrence, and attempting to explain TEL's motives behind his erradic behavior. This kind of amateur science was handled responsibly for most of the work, but the temptation to delve into the pool of conjecture and broad speculation proved too great for Wilson, as with most authorities on the subject.
The work is well-researched, a bit thin in style, and full of notes and a helpful appendix. Not perfect, but definitely the best pick for a Lawrence bio out there.
good.......2000-08-23
I found this extremely readable, and written clearly (a relief after trying to plow through T.E. Lawrence's own murky 7 PILLARS OF WISDOM, a book he himself did not like after he learned that good writing is clear writing). I wouldn't have, and a lot of you reading this, wouldn't have come to this book without the movie, so I would like to mention some things that the movie was wrong about, according to this book. 1) T. E. Lawrence did have to execute an Arab with his pistol, but he DID feel remorse about it and did NOT experience a perverse pleasure at it. 2) He was not homosexual. He in fact asked a girl to marry him, who turned him down. It was standard in that era that an educated Englishman still be a virgin in his mid-20's, and the only reason he stayed a virgin until his death in his 40's was that he was raped by those Turks (as is obliquely referred to in the movie), and as a consequence was (tragically) repulsed by physical human contact thereafter. So he became, as he himself described it, "A lay monk." A first-rate book for anyone interested in the heroic Laurence. (I say heroic because after taking Aquaba, he was up for a Victoria's Cross, England's highest military honor. But he needed an English witness to the event, when only Arabs witnessed it. So he did not get a Victoria's Cross, AND LAWRENCE DIDN'T CARE. He perhaps, then, wasn't as vain as the movie portrayed him to be, either.)
Book Description
1927. This book, originally written in 1919, was printed for the author and his friends, not for general publication. Lawrence abridged the original work and the present volume is about one-half the size of the original. Lawrence stated that if he was asked why he had abridged an unsatisfactory book instead of recasting it as a history, he would plead that to do so nice a job in the barracks which were his home since 1922 would need a degree of concentration amounting in an airman to moroseness; and an interest in the subject which was exhausted long ago in the actual experience of it.
Customer Reviews:
"Shakespeare Moderne"- Arguably one of the greatest literary works of the 20th century. "Not a wasted word.".......2006-10-01
Okay, a bold title deserves justification.
The worst one could say of T.E. Lawrence is that he was an iconic British hero. I won't slather this book review with biographical fodder, but will instead, review said book.
In "Revolt in the Desert", Lawrence shows his mastery of language that rivaled the greatest English writers of all time.
This abridged version of "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" is a glimpse into a shadow of history, if not a brilliant mind.
Deletions of censored and edited sections are obvious throughout (remember it's abridged!) and make the mental navigation of the story difficult at times, but you'll manage.
Lawrence's imagery is often painful even frequently comical.
The average modern reader doesn't have the benefit of drawing on history that, for the book's first audience in 1927, was not distant news. If you know some WWI history, rejoice! If not, get out a Dummy's Guide to WWI or be prepared to stumble through some historical figures, Arab tribes and military equipment scarcely heard of today, although not any less important. American foreign policy in the Middle East would be well served if this were mandatory reading for U.S. State Department officials.
REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ. AUTHORS, EVEN DEAD ONES, DESERVE YOUR OPINIONS.
5/31/07
Having since read Lowell Thomas's book "With Lawrence in Arabia," I cannot begin to put into words the complete brilliance of the personality that was T.E. Lawrence.
Thomas's book must be regarded as an important foreword to "Revolt in the Desert." Reading Thomas's book will better ground those readers less familiar with the topical information Lawrence's book assumes a prior knowledge of.
Thomas was a contemporary and, for a time, companion of Lawrence. Thomas's book is an Americanized version of the story of Lawrence's desert exploits and gives a glimpse into the life of a man far to modest to revel in or write about his own well deserved glory.
A classic, though strange and oddly written.......2006-09-14
T.E. Lawrence was an unusual character. The bastard son of an Anglo-Irish baronet and a serving girl, he attended Oxford and earned a degree in history and archaeology. Those degrees led to a position on an archaeological dig in what was then part of the Ottoman Empire. He learned the language, and adopted their mode of dress, and learned everything from customs to how to ride and fight. When World War I started, Lawrence joined the British army (along with three of his brothers, all of whom were killed in the war) and was assigned to British army headquarters in Cairo. He spent two years there in the Intelligence Bureau, working on maps and other things, but was sent to the Hejaz in 1916 to liase with the local Arabs, led by the self-styled Sharif of Mecca, Hussein, and several of his sons, most prominently Feisal. It was this assignment that led to his fame, because he helped lead the revolt of the Arabs for the next two years.
After the war, Lawrence served the British government for several years, and then wrote a long book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, which recounted his experiences. Lawrence was a strange, twisted, odd character, and for reasons that are too complicated to go into, he didn't want the book in wide circulation. He instead had it published in limited distribution; this led to the strange situation of people putting ads in the London Times offering copies of the book for rent. For other strange motives, Lawrence insisted on selling the book at a loss, which led to him incurring a debt from the sale of the book. This led to him in turn editing the book down to about half of what it was before: the result was the present book, Revolt in the Desert, which was released first in England and then America. The English version was withdrawn from circulation once Lawrence retired his debt, though the American version continued to be published and distributed.
Revolt in the Desert itself is a strange, unusual book. Lawrence participated in the revolt itself, and liased between primarily Feisal and the British authorities. During the campaign, he led forces that were very primitive, primarily Arab irregular cavalry, usually mounted on camels, and the most modern forces, fighting from armored cars and airplanes. All of these weapons and their handling is recounted with the usual eccentric British verve and energy.
I enjoyed the book a great deal, and would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.
Never Meant For Publication & Mass Distribution!.......2005-11-15
In 1919 A.D., author T.E. Lawrence wrote out in a 400,000 word book "the whole bitter account of his adventure (in Arabia) and of his disappointment over the conclusion which the Peace Conference seemed to put to it." Lawrence left that manuscript replete with notes and many photographs in a handbag at the Reading railway station which was then stolen from that location. Lawrence tried to recount what he had wrote, but he never intended it for publication. Later, he had it printed on a newspaper press in Oxford, in an edition limited characteristically to eight copies, of which three, were afterward destroyed.
This book is the descendant in furtherance of Lawrence's re-written book, which he himself was never quite satisfied with. It stands as a purely personal record of his account in Arabia.
At the end of his Arabian exploits Lawrence, only 28 years of age, found himself in danger of being politely eliminated as an "upstart," while other men ruined the plans for which he was largely responsible. He recounts (as he planned to re-enter Arabia to aid Feisal):
"Storrs and I then marched off together, happily. In the East they swore that by three sides was the decent way across a square; and my trick to escape was in this sense oriental. But I justified myself by my confidence in the final success of the Arab revolt if properly advised. I had been a mover in its beginning; my hopes lay in it. The fatalistic subordination of a professional soldier (intrigue being unknown in the British army) would have made a proper officer sit down and watch his plan of campaign wrecked by men who thought nothing of it, and to whose spirit it made no appeal. Non nobis, Domine."
This review applies to the original 1927 A.D. edition of "Revolt In The Desert" as the first printing in America by the George H. Doran Company in New York City, NY.
The strange and still mysterious figure of T.E. Lawrence has become legend and has attained nearly cult icon status. Although somewhat different than that which was promoted by the 1962 David Lean movie "Lawrence of Arabia;" "Revolt In The Desert" is a fantastic first person account of an important part of English history which has has substantially affected the United States and the world.
Without hesitation or reservation. 5 stars.
Exciting and enjoyable.......2005-11-02
Very different that the "Lawrence of Arabia" movie. An exciting and enjoyable first hand account of the arab revolt against Turkey in World War I. Although it's hard to keep track of who is who and what is where, the writing and descriptions of the desert, the arabs and the action make it very worthwhile.
Worth the time.......2002-10-11
A good read. Honest, insightful, intelligent and exciting.
Average customer rating:
- A Collection of Battle Stories
- This Best is the Best
|
Men at War: The Best War Stories of All Time
Leo Tolstoy ,
T. E. Lawrence ,
William Faulkner ,
Winston Churchill ,
Rudyard Kipling ,
James Hilton ,
C. S. Forrester , and
Stephen Crane
Manufacturer: Wings Books (Random House)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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A Farewell To Arms
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ASIN: 0517066602
Release Date: 1992-01-21 |
Customer Reviews:
A Collection of Battle Stories.......2004-02-19
Very well written stories of battle through the ages. Nothing glamorous here, just plain and accurate writing, often by a participant of the action. Several stories give pause for thought.
This Best is the Best.......2002-05-05
Hemingway's introduction states: "This book has been edited in order that...boys, as they grow to the age where they can appreciate it and use it and will need it, can have [a] book that will contain truth about war as near as we can come by it." As a result of careful selection and organization, this collection of war stories accomplishes what Hemingway set out to do. As a teacher, I've found these stories useful in class -- from Caesar's notes on his invasion of Britain and Charlotte Yonge's "Pass to Thermopylae" to Aldington's heartbreaking WWI story, "At All Costs." This collection contains the works of fine writers (Faulkner, Kipling, Forester, Crane, Kipling) and historical figures (Churchill,T.Roosevelt). As a parent, I am encouraging my adolescent son to read this book so that he will understand what others have done and what he may one day be called upon to do for his country. This book will one day be rediscovered and reprinted for a modern America once again engaged in a discussion of war and courage. In the meantime, join me in being grateful for these used copies which are available at (usually) reasonable prices.
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