Hobbies And Interests
The Title
The title of the book refers in part to a biblical verse from the Book of Proverbs, 9:1. It reads: "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars." Lawrence was also working on a book before the World War I with the title Seven Pillars of Wisdom, which was to be about seven cities of the Arab world. The manuscript for this original book was destroyed, however.
Cooperation with Arabs
One of the most striking themes of the book for many modern readers would be the cooperation between Arabs and a British man. In fact, Lawrence was often in a kind of leadership role, a relationship between a westerner and Arabs that would be hard to imagine in modern times. Sadly, it was Lawrence's involvement with the Arabs and their subsequent treatment after the war that began to sour relations between the West and the Arab world.
Significance to the War Effort
The significance of the various war efforts undertaken by Lawrence and his Arab comrades and written about in the book cannot be understated. The Battle of Aqaba in particular, in which Lawrence and his Arab comrades took a strategically important city by themselves, was an important event in the Middle Eastern theater of war. Lawrence was also involved in the capture of Damascus toward the end of World War I.
After the War
As part of an agreement between the British and the Arabs that Lawrence worked with, the Arabs would revolt against the Ottoman Empire in exchange for favorable treatment when the Ottoman Empire collapsed and was divided up. It was in this context that Lawrence was a liaison for the British, and the agreement underpins much of what is written in the book. The deal was reneged on, however, and despite Lawrence's lobbies, the Arab allies of the British were not treated favorably after the war.