Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-04-09
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By The BookIoUev

! From time lmmemofiaI ARABIA mas
been the battle-ground OF southern
/ Asia. The Modes, PeTsians and Chal-
deans in ancIe Mt times and the Turks
and Arabians in modern tunes have
! fought over every foot OF this PENN
sula. Joining Egypt and Asia. Just as
! the European nations have made Bel
! gium their favorite battle-ground. In
/ Arabia was located the true Arranged
| don. a fortress in the pass of the
ridge OF Carmel, the fighting ground
of the nations. 1t was not to- be ex-
| pected. therefore, that Arabia would
| he scotheless during the great war.
| Two names stand out I'm that roma nti"
| history--Gen. Allenby and Col. T. Il.
| Lawrence, the latter now almost A
| legend. RI one wants q thrilling story
of adventure and hardship, amazing
sruesome, true, let him get Lawrerce's
| Revolt In the Desert" modern epic
Of tho authors part in unifylng the
desert tribes OF Arabia and in leading
them in their successful effort to
| throw off the Turkish yoke during
| the great war. IT is the story OF a
young Oxford graduate, Is years old
| at the beginning of the war. Previous
to the war he had spent two years I'm
wandering up and down the Semitic
| East. so that he had a remarkable
! knowledge Of races and tongues. Re
| iected as physically unfit for military
| duty. he had been assigned TO the
| British Intelligence Service 1t Cairo,
| where he spent two years very much
| bored. firing OF the sedentary life of
an office. he conceived the brilliant
| idea which resulted in his subsequent
sincle-handed inspiration, organization
and leadership of the Arab revolt.
! Through two years of bitter and wierd
adventure and hardship, compacted of
heat. cold. hunger, thirst, Verm1n,
slecplessness and treacherY. In an at
mosphere of incredible romance and
under a veil of profound secrecy. ne
perscvered till he became virtually the
uncrowned king of the desert tribes
and led them to victory.
%* y
This modern Arabian Nights tale
is the most romantic epic OF our own
era. The history of the book is al
most as romantic as the story 1t mar
rates. First. Lawrence In 1919 wrote
out in 400 ,000-Word manuscript the
whole bitter account of his adventure
ard Of his disappointment over the
conclusion which the peace confer
ence seemed TO put to 1t. This, to-
gether with many of his notes ana
photogra phs. put down for moment
in railway station, completely DIS
appeared. probably stolen by a sneak
thief. He rewrote 1t from memory.
Never intending it for publication, he
had eight copies printed on a news
paper press in oxford, of which three
copies were afterward destroyed. At
the urgent request of friends, a larger
but limited and richly produced edition
was printed for subscribers, with the
title of THE Seven Pillars OF Wis
DOM" of which Revolt In the Desert"
is an abridgment amounting to less
than half of the original text. 1t Is
extremely well written. 1t Is stated
that the author, probably to avoid the
notoriety his book has given him, has
under an assumed name enlisted in
the British army, serving first in the
air force and now as a private in the
Tank Corps. The reader of these
para graphs will be interested in the
three pages on This Man Lawrence,
by Bernard Shaw in the April World s
Work. According to Shaw it is not
even certain that 1T. h. Lawrence" Is
the real name of the author, but only
name temporarily used by him.
Worlds Work is serializing Revolt
in the Desert" as we'll as a second
series of articles on Lawrence by
Lowell Thomas, author of with
Lawrence in Arabia" The Lawrence
literature as we'll as the Lawrence
legend grows space.
* X X
Habits and mannerisms are likely
to be at least as important as char
acter where the gentle art OF getting
along with others is concerned. Susan
Ertz has a story illustrating this tru-
ism in her volume, 1.-THE Wind OF
Complication" 1t Is called "Just Lit.
tie Things" A badly spoiled woman
is bored with her life 10 such an eX-
tent that she has developed NERVES"
both chronic and acute. And 1t is all
because her indulGent husband will
always say when he sits down to din
ner: And what are the glad tidings
tonight?" and when he rises from the
table will always say: We'll. l don't
believe the Kings had a better din
ner than we've had" He has other
habits which annoy her to the point
of evaporation. He jerks his news
paper when he reads, he rolls his ci-
gar in his mouth, he rocks on his
heels and toes when he stands before
the fireplace. She also dislikes the
way he wipes his mouth, the way he
picks up and puts down his glass of
claret, the way he moves his head
when he speaks. Finally, her
nerves" reach such a state that she
decides she can endure her husband
no longer. She joins an Italian ad-
mirer in London and together they
cross the Channel, en- route for Paris
and a divorce from the annoying hus-
band But that Channel crossing
brings out a whole set of Carlos
habits, which she finds she likes no
better than Dicks. Carlo forgets to
engage a private cabin for her, but
manages to find one for himself when
he is very seasick. On deck he
monopoHzes most of her rug, because
he has none of his own and the wind
is cutting. When they land, both of
them pallid and giddy, and go to the
station restaurant at Calais, he orders
sweet champagne, which she loathes,
without consulting her. In the train
Ior Paris he closes the window rs
often as she opens 1t, though she feels
that she Is nearly Suffocating. That
evening. when they reach Paris, she
leaves him and telephones to Dick in
London (whom she has fortunately
not enlightened as to the circum-
stances of her departure) to join her
for a trip on the continent. Dick, de-
voted husband that he is, comes i'm
mediately.
X X y
Winston s. Churchill, chancellor OF
the eXchequer of Great Britain, has
finished his discussion of the World
War with the two final volumes of
his work, The World Crisis" These
volumes cover events of 1916-191S; the
two earlier volumes covered those of
1911-1915. Other writer's have narrated
the same events; Mr.. Churchills
analysis of the events is what gives
his work value. His part in the
British war councils, outside his own
department, appears an important
one. He advised about the campaigns
on the Western front. i'll Turkey, In
the Rallsans in PALESTINE He differed