The authoritative and illuminating biography of T. E. Lawrence - the man who inspired the iconic film Lawrence of Arabia. Thomas Edward Lawrence first set foot on the hot sands of Arabia in 1909. By 1918 there was a £20,000 price on his head. From his first postings as archaeologist, liaison and map officer, to fighting alongside guerrilla forces during the Arab Revolt. Journeying more than 300 miles through blistering heat to capture Aqaba, to his involvement in peace conferences that decided the future of the Middle East. A legend in his own lifetime, Lawrence's epic story has always been ripe for the retelling - but Ranulph Fiennes is no ordinary biographer... Having led Arab troops into battle on the Arabian peninsula in a war fought only fifty years later. Fiennes too discovered the wonders of these far-flung lands and the people who live there, and is one of very few who can claim a true insight into the kind of life that Lawrence lived.