The Arab Revolt 1916–18: Lawrence sets Arabia ablaze (Campaign, 202)

David Murphy's book is written in an orderly manner that provides an excellent synopsis of this desert campaign. He ties the Arab revolt to the overall British mission in a way that is easy to follow. This is noteworthy as many of the people and places are probably unfamiliar to the average reader.The book has an extensive four page chronology and a detailed Order of Battle. Both of these are helpful in allowing the reader to keep track of various events. It has five 2D maps and two 3D Birds Eye View maps. Each map is concise and presents a clear picture. The 2D tactical maps are extremely helpful in following the progress of the campaign. The book has an outstanding assortment of photos. They include everything from individuals like T.E. Lawrence and Emir Feisal ibn Hussein, to action scenes, and war material such as aircraft and Talbot armored cars. These photos do a great job of bringing this campaign to life.The book does have some editorial shortcomings. On page 73, a sentence reads as follows; "The Ma'an garrison was now be cut off in the same way as the Medina garrison was further south." The word "be" should obviously have been deleted. In addition, some graphics are out of sync with the text. The color battle scene for the attack on Mudawwarah Station is located ahead of the applicable narrative. Although not significant, these shortcomings could have been avoided.The book has a chapter on the legacy of the revolt that outlines the origin of modern Middle Eastern countries. It also describes the history of T.E. Lawrence and how he became known as Lawrence of Arabia. Of particular interest are the possible fabrications in his memoir and rumors that atrocities may have occurred under his watch.Bottom line: This is an easy to read and concise overview of the entire campaign. The photos are particularly interesting. Despite the editorial shortcomings, this is an excellent book.

In 1916, as the First World War reached the Middle East, the Arab tribes in what is now Saudi Arabia revolted against the governing Ottoman Empire. Great Britain, anxious for support to its own campaign against the Ottoman Armies, sent troops and supplies to facilitate the success of the rebels. Among the British officers was former archeologist T.E. Lawrence, seconded to intelligence to assess the revolt and its leaders, and soon to become the iconic "Lawrence of Arabia", a leader of the Arab armies that changed everything.The popular image of the Arab revolt has been warped for generations, first by Lawrence's literary epic "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom", then by David Lean's cinematic masterpiece "Lawrence of Arabia. This Osprey Campaign Series entry, "The Arab Revolt 1916-1918" is an introduction to what really happened. In less than 100 pages, author David Murphy sketches the background to the revolt, the principal leaders on both sides and their plans, and what happened. Lawrence was only one of many British and French officers and soldiers who helped the Arab tribal armies achieve military success. It also turns out that Britain and France had their vision of a postwar Middle East, one that did not include Arab autonomy.The narrative does a decent job of placing Lawrence in context, and of recognizing that his version of events was just that. The text is very nicely supplemented by period photographs, maps, diagrams and illustrations. The bibliography is worth perusing for further information about the conflict. Recommended.

Another Great Osprey WW1 Book. I remember seeing the movie . and loving it and the book is great of all my Osprey books.I can't remember one i don't like

I ordered this book as a pre-read for T.E. Lawrence's "7 Pillars of Wisdom". It definitely helped put Lawrences' book into context for me.

Another of many books about Lawrence of Arabia.

Like all Osprey books, this serves as a short and succinct summary of the subject. As it subtitle suggests, the big issue that Murphy struggles with is that most magnetic and enigmatic of personalities', Colonel T.E. Lawrence. It is very revealing reading this book to see just how many of the Lawrence legends are exposed and set aside. For an example, most accounts have Lawrence operating most or less single-handily in the Hejaz, when in fact there were numerous British and French officers serving in the Hejaz. Lawrence did not originate the attacks on the Hejaz railroad, which started a good two months before he led his first attack in March 1917. The Hashemite forces were not just bands of Bedouin guerrillas, but also included the Arab Regular Army of former Ottoman POWs who wore British-style uniforms and fought in conventional battles. Moreover, the somewhat misnamed Great Arab Revolt received crucial assistance from British ground, air and above all naval forces, and was not just a case of plucky Arab guerrillas bringing down the mighty Ottoman Empire. It is not that Murphy is any way hostile towards Lawrence, whom he portrays as an extraordinary, albeit a deeply troubled leader, but rather he cuts away the accumulated encomium of the Lawrence myth to reveal the true story.Leaving aside the overshadowing personality of Lawrence, Murphy does a fine job of summarizing the Arab revolt in less than 100 pages. Perhaps because this is not a biography, even though Lawrence gets his due, Murphy takes a wider view of the campaign, and does not reduce the story of the Hejaz revolt down to the story of Lawrence in Arabia. Unlike most accounts of the Arab Revolt, Murphy makes an effort to understand the Ottoman side, which tends to get overlooked, with Hashemite forces struggling against more or less any anonymous Turkish forces. Because perhaps he is a British historian, there is much focus on the British role in aiding and assisting the revolt. The other big issues about the campaign in Arabia are to what extent was Allied aid crucial, and did the efforts of the Arab irregulars play a decisive role in the final defeat of the Ottoman Empire? About the latter, Murphy makes a strong case that by tying down, harassing, and threatening the flanks of the Ottomans that the Revolt did play a key role in aiding Allenby. About the former, through Murphy does not say this explicitly, and by no means demeans the contributions of the Hashemite emirs Abdullah and Feisal, and the other Arab leaders, but one gets the sense that he favours the view that Allied assistance was crucial.Turning to the weaknesses, there is a tendency which most accounts of the Revolt succumb to, of taking the Hashemite claim to be the leaders of all the Arabs at face value. This is simply not true. The Sharif of Mecca, Hussein ibn Ali, is portrayed as an Arab nationalist, when in fact he was nothing of the sort. The Sharif Hussein, who seems to been a particularly treacherous, scheming character spent most of his life living in Constantinople, and spoke notably better Turkish than he did Arabic. Hussein had no interest in Arab nationalism, and everything he did was meant to aggrandise his own power. All these claims of Hussein being the "King of the Arabs" was just empire-building on his part. Nor does he mention that Hussein and his sons were frequently in contact with the Turks as part of the effort to secure the largest clunk of the patrimony of the Middle East for themselves. The Hashemites as part of their empire-building claimed to be the leaders of the entire Arab world, but there is nothing either at the time or since to support these assertions. Murphy mentions this in passing that much of the Ottoman Army was Arab, but he does not bring out the real point that more Arabs fought for the Turks than against them in the First World War. However, these are all political questions, and this book is first and foremost a military history. As a military history, it is excellent, less so as a political history.

Easy to follow, yet sufficiently detailed to give an understanding of this campaign.

Excellent

Great value!

“アラビアのロレンス”が登場する Osprey の戦史シリーズとしてはこれが3冊目。過去の本と比較するとすっきりしたデザインになっており、アラブ反乱当時の写真54枚に加えて現代のカラー写真を収録。おなじみロンドンの戦争博物館 (Imperial War Museum) のほか、フランスの国防史編纂部 (SHD Vincennes) やアメリカ議会図書館 (Library of Congress) 所蔵のものなど、使い回しでない貴重な写真に目が奪われる。たとえば砂漠に立つ Pisani 大尉の写真など初めて見た。映画『アラビアのロレンス』の写真や、2006年にスタートした Great Arab Revolt Project の紹介もある。カラー地図を7枚収録（うち鳥瞰図2枚：タフィーラ戦とマーン攻略）。アラブ反乱に興味のある人は必読の一冊といえるだろう。Bryan Perrett, Megiddo 1918: The Last Great Cavalry Victory （初版1999年）との併読をおすすめする。なお、本書は「Google ブック検索」で内容の一部が閲覧可能。