Seven Pillars of Wisdom

By: T. E. Lawrence

Narrated by: Roy McMillan

Length: 25 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Although T. E. Lawrence, commonly known as "Lawrence of Arabia", died in 1935, the story of his life has captured the imagination of succeeding generations. Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a monumental work in which he chronicles his role in leading the Arab Revolt against the Turks during the First World War. A reluctant leader, and wracked by guilt at the duplicity of the British, Lawrence nevertheless threw himself into his role, suffering the blistering desert conditions and masterminding military campaigns which culminated in the triumphant march of the Arabs into Damascus.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

Public Domain (P)2012 Naxos AudioBooks

Well written!

A pleasure to listen to a Brit tell T.E. Lawrence ‘s adventure. I red this long ago, but to listen to aBrit read it to me was like having a story told to me. I imagined I was there; I felt the flees bite; I scratched when the lice bit. I felt his pain both mental and physical. In the end I could see he was suffering from PTSD. This probably led to his motorcycle accident. I will listen to his story again.

History repeats itself

This is the Arab Spring, the Syrian civil war, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan all rolled into one. It is Dune, Lord of the Rings, and Indiana Jones at the same time. I can't believe I waited so long to open this story!!

Utterly Spectacular

5/5 hope to listen to or read this again. It's such an incredible insight to the Arabian Campaign of WWI. A campaign which is often overlooked. Lawrence had an amazing mind, truly one of a kind. His insight to guerilla warfare and its appreciation towards culture should be textbook. Lawrence had an amazing way with words. Large bias - I honestly felt like I understood him and his woes. Breathtaking journey.

So thankfull T.E.Lawrence wrote this book

Roy McMillan reads this so well.

As the book was written for others. that could perhaps explain if one needs explanation, why this book is so intimate. It has the feel and resonance of letters from a friend.
Roy McMillan captures this.
Also Lawrence's style of writing, what he writes about, moving through the experiences, the people and events and places that all contribute to a great account. He was an archeologist working in the Middle East before being asked to work with the Military Intellegence.

The pdf is helpfull, giving times and chapters as well as a simple map. If you are like me you will find some excellent links through Wikipedia and well, just surfin. So I have listened once since downloading and spent as much if not more time searching the web.

The events in 'Seven Pillars' are almost 100 years old. The decisions of Super Powers of the day, still influence us today.
While a lot has been written about the man, it is good to hear or read his own account. Keeping in mind he was with the British Military Intellegence at the time there are no doubt many things he did not write about.
And yes, I am thankfull Lawrence wrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Armed with better maps and Bio's my second read will be very slow.

History the Way it Should be Written

This book is written by an educated man with a superb mastery of the English language. It is a pleasure to listen to. Each detail tells an important story. No boring chest thumping here. Lawrence was a soldier, statesman, and explorer. All of this comes out in his account of the Arab Uprising.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom gives a glimpse into the lives of Arabs as they lived before their world was carved up by the Western powers. T.E. Lawrence passes over some matters in an off-hand way but he never avoids sensitive topics. It is difficult, from our modern perspective, to remember that the Middle East was largely governed by tribal chiefs prior to WWII.

Lawrence of Arabia

one of the best books and movies anyone will ever watch... T he book provides much more detail than the movie

Still holds up after 100 years

I'll admit I initially bought this simply because I enjoy the narrator's voice.
2019 marks a century since Lawrence first put the majority of this work onto paper.
It has aged well. I tried reading this decades ago as a teenager, but I was too immature
to appreciate this slow burn of a tome.

Recommeded by the Late-Ron Smith of WBAL radio

The book is beautifully written in the best of the Queen's English and even more beautifully read by Roy McMillan. It just that it is somewhat slow going.

wow

if I was a expert-reviewer" I'd recommend this audiobook. What can U say? Beautiful narrator. Excellent. Extremely engaging. Only read little @ a time. Takes focus _(who would know know) all these places & names for flow. Looks like a 3 reader. may have to read "many time' Thank you. Im not done reading and I wanted to give a "shout" here. the scar I read more ygan once. this i feel i could read again. Maybe even with a "map" w/ me. Frederick Davidson

Much to take in, settle for long ride thru desert

Superb performance. Superbly written. This explains so much of the goings on in the Mideast at this time. The Nation making and Nation taking that is witnessed and retold here is a tale that everyone should understand. This is not light reading, I had to take breaks to take in the historic facts as well as fully appreciate and digest the style and language in which it was written.