Complex sentence: Mahan was later described as a'disciple' of Laughton, although the two men were always at pains to distinguish between each other's line of work, Laughton seeing Mahan as a theorist while Mahan called Laughton' the historian'.
Split into simpler sentences: Mahan was later described as a'disciple' of Laughton, but the two men were always at pains to distinguish between each other's line of work. Laughton saw Mahan as a theorist while Mahan called Laughton' the historian'.