Thomas Edward Lawrence was a handsome, diminutive, Oxford educated British gentleman with a keen interest in Archaeology. As a youth, he rode his bicycle from England to the Middle East to study the castles of the Crusades. He walked 1100 miles, learning all that he could about the cultures and languages. He was robbed and beaten on his first day in Syria (even then, a top vacation spot), a fact that he kept hidden from his mother.

Studying at Oxford, Lawrence was curiously close to an older male companion, Vyvyan Richards. Their parents and their pals worried about the closeness. His parents were concerned about Richards' motives. They thwarted his plan to go into a printing press business with Richards. So, Lawrence accepted an offer to join an archaeological dig sponsored by the British Museum in what is now called Iraq.

After he arrived, Lawrence met a boy, Selim Ahmed, commonly called "Dahoum", meaning "little dark one". Their relationship started with Lawrence attempting to learn Arabic and Dahoum learning English. They became more than just friends, living and traveling together, which caused a scandal among the British archaeologists, not just because they became lovers, but because of the mixing of races.

When World War I broke out, British Intelligence sought out Arab experts (Turkey and Germany were allies at the time). Lawrence left Dahoum in charge of workers at their dig and he returned to England.

Lawrence's knowledge of the Middle East brought him to a post in Cairo making maps and gathering intelligence. He devised a plan to assist the Arabs in their uprising against the Turks, allowing the British forces to attack the highly prized Suez Canal. His kinship with the Arabs was noted and he quickly became key to the operation, acting as a go-between for both armies. A deal over who would get what land after the rebellion was struck and soon the rebel forces prepared for battle.

At around this time, American journalist Lowell Thomas arrived in Cairo searching for a story to boost the USA's involvement in a war that was none of our business. He was captivated by the story of a British officer in traditional Arab dress.

In June 1916, there was a successful attack on the Turkish railway. Other attacks were planned and carried out. But poor Lawrence was discovered and taken prisoner by the Turks. He was tortured and raped. A guard sympathetic to the Arab cause gave Lawrence a shot at escape. Lawrence took it and he walked hundreds of miles across the desert to safety.

Lawrence was deeply damaged by his capture. He attempted to resign his service, but the British refused. He somehow found the energy to take his trademark Arabic robes, pick up a gun and head for the front against the charging rebels. Lawrence survived a year of fighting before the rebels took Damascus in 1918 and began to set up an all-Arab Government. We all know how that worked out. This is when Lawrence found out that Dahoum had died.

Of course, the British Government did not fulfill the promises of land for the Arabs, the beginnings of the mess that we are now in, but that Jared Kushner supposed to have fixed in 2020.

Lawrence led a campaign for the Arab cause against the British government. He also began writing a book about his experience in the Middle East, THE SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM, part memoir and part travelogue. After many months of work, Lawrence lost the manuscript when his briefcase was stolen at a London train station.

Lowell Thomas returned from the war with the idea to make Lawrence a war hero. He traveled with a slide presentation about a misfit officer who became a leader of an Arab army. Lawrence became a media star, yet he didn't love being celebrated, saying that his role had been blown out of proportion. He used the opportunity to announce that he would refuse to accept any official honors.

To escape the attention, the furious Thomas convinced the RAF to take him under a fake name. Lawrence settled down to a military life and began rewriting of his famous book. The first edition was finally published in 1927.

After his retirement from the RAF in 1935, Lawrence moved to a cottage in the English countryside to live quietly and anonymously. He enjoyed riding his motorcycle around the back roads. Once, he swerved to avoid a pair of boys on their bicycles and crashed his motorcycle and died. He was just 46 years old.

He called himself an "ordinary man", but Lawrence lived an extraordinary life. Among the mourners at his funeral were gay writer E.M. Forster and Winston Churchill.

The tale of Lawrence's life as presented in David Lean's 1962 film, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA cements his place in history, but Lean left out the gay part, of course.