Bound in full red Morocco, with black and white onlay and blocked in gold. Full gilt spine with black labels, gilt borders and board edges, hand sewn silk headbands, and hand marbled endpapers.
A superb tactician, Lawrence became a master of guerilla war and unconventional methods – right down to wearing traditional Arab dress.Lawrence was an anomaly – an amateur officer who eschewed British military traditions and discipline and who loathed its seemingly mindless adherence to rules, regulations and conventions.
“The origins of British special forces operations are often traced back to World War Two but in reality, we should trace them back further than that.
“Both special forces operations and what Lord Mountbatten called ‘combined operations’ had their origins in the British operations of the Arab Revolt.
Instead of navigating the red tape and chain of command, Stirling snuck into the military headquarters in Cairo to meet directly with Commander-in-Chief General Sir Claude Auchinleck, where he encountered the deputy chief of staff, Major General Neil Ritchie. Ritchie proved to be the turning point in Stirling’s career. Impressed with Stirling’s innovation and daring, he persuaded Auchinleck to approve a new special operations unit, named ‘L Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade’ to deliberately mislead people into thinking it was a parachute brigade.
