Chronology

1888, 16 August

Thomas Edward Lawrence is born in Tremadog, North Wales.

1896

The Lawrence family moves to Oxford.

1907-1910

Lawrence studies at Jesus College, Oxford. For his thesis on crusader castles he cycles 2,400 miles through France and walks 1,100 miles in Syria.

1911

Lawrence starts work as an archaeologist at Carchemish in Syria.

1914

War begins. Lawrence is sent to Cairo.

1915

Lawrence's two brothers, Will and Frank, die in France.

1916

The Arab Revolt begins and Lawrence joins Sherif Faisal in his campaigns against the Turkish poeple.

1918

Damascus is captured from the Turks. Lawrence returns to England.

1919

The Paris Peace Conference dashes Arab dreams of independence.

1921-1922

Lawrence, working with Churchill at the Colonial Office, helps to achieve some degree of Arab self-rule.

1922-1935

Lawrence first joins the Royal Air Force under the pseudonym of J.H. Ross, but disclosures in the press cause his discharge.

He serves in the Tank Corps, then rejoins the RAF as T.E. Shaw.

During this period he publishes Seven Pillars of Wisdom, The Mint and his translations of Le Corbeau's Gigantesque and Homer's Odyssey.

1935, 19 May

Lawrence dies as a result of a motorcycle accident near his home in Dorset.