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accustomed to believing me, and to think my government, like myself, well-meaning towards them. In this hope they performed some fi ne things; but of course, instead of being proud of what we did together, I was continually and bitterly ashamed.” These words ring true, and anyone who could write them, and mean them, would have had not the least inclination to fabricate a heroic role for himself; on the contrary, for the role played was a source of shame.Much of the legend turns out to be true, then. Lawrence was a military genius and a seminal theorist and practitioner of modern guerrilla warfare. His peculiar character and predilections also fi tted him superbly to immerse himself in an alien culture, identify with its cause, and empathise with its people; far more so than any other British offi cer attached to the Arab forces.But he was no picture-book hero. The collision between fantasy and reality – between Arab ideals and European imperialism – exploded inside his head and brought him to mental breakdown and a retreat from public life into the Above: The landscape at Tooth Hill Camp, where Lawrence stayed Below: Fragments from biscuit boxes (left) and from a GordonÕs Gin bottle (right), found at Tooth Hill Campobscurity of service in the ranks after the war. That, more than anything, makes ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ a fi gure of such enduring fascination.¥ Lawrence of Arabia’s War will be at the National Civil War Centre, Newark, from October 17, 2016 (details at www.nationalcivilwarcentre.com). See page 46 for details of Neil’s book on the subject. ■TOOTH HILL CAMPLandscape archaeologist John Winterburn spent years working in the archives to identify the site of an overnight campsite used by Lawrence and other British ‘special forces’ soldiers during WW1. An unpublished wartime photo confi rmed the location.When John and two colleagues walked across the site (left), they were stunned by what they saw at their feet. It was as if the men of the Hijaz Armoured Car Company had only just left. Campfi res and a detritus of discarded ration tins, rum jars, spent cartridges, and lost vehicle parts left no room for doubt: this was indeed the place where Lawrence spoke of drinking tea and eating bully beef and biscuits around the campfi re.32 NADFAS REVIEW / SUMMER 2016 www.nadfas.org.ukLAWRENCE OF ARABIA