This groundbreaking work chronicles the author's quest to uncover previously unexplained areas of the life of T.E. Lawrence, the enigmatic desert fighter, aircraftman and writer. The result of years of painstaking research, this book contains new material that throws a completely fresh light on Lawrence's concealed private life. Following an extraordinary journey to find the unknown man behind the many myths, the book's two halves are woven together by the author's personal mission to reveal the man behind the mask; the secret Lawrence. Part One reveals Lawrence's lost Irish heritage - his father's real family (the aristocratic, Anglo-Irish Chapmans), his abandoned half-sisters (with evocative interviews), his illegitimacy, and his mother's obscure forebears. The author shows, for the first time, that his titled and wealthy Irish family's refusal to acknowledge him affected Lawrence far more deeply than previously thought; and a surprising truth emerges - that he thought of himself not as English but as Irish. The book's compelling narrative is powerfully supported by a wide range of previously unpublished photographs.These include two of his father, Thomas Chapman, a complete Chapman family sequence and views of Killua Castle and South Hill, the family seats in Westmeath.
The second part, which follows the author's adventurous travels to the Middle East in search of Lawrence's lost love, has a surprising denouement - a convincing solution to the mysterious and cryptic dedication to S.A. of his book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The author also presents new evidence to vindicate Lawrence's account in the Seven Pillars of the brutal sexual assault on him at Deraa during the Arab Revolt of 1916-18, a controversial episode that has often been questioned.