T. E. Lawrence



Youth |1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935

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January 1922

Lawrence begins secret negotiations to enlist in the ranks of the RAF under an assumed name. Late in the month he begins sending chapters of the newly completed Seven Pillars draft to the Oxford Times printing works, where they will be typeset. Eight sets of pages are printed there on a proofing press (this method of reproduction was cheaper than having the manuscript typed). He sends the chapters to the printer un-numbered and in a random order, to prevent anyone but himself from assembling the text. 

March 1922

On 1 March Lawrence finishes his duties at the Colonial Office but is entitled to three months' paid leave. During this, he completes the polished 1922 text of Seven Pillars.

July 1922

On 1 July Lawrence formally leaves the Colonial Office and begins final negotiations for his secret enlistment. By 21 July both Churchill and the Secretary of State for Air have agreed.

August 1922

The binders deliver the first copies of Seven Pillars. Lawrence sends them to various readers, beginning with Edward Garnett and Eric Kennington. Garnett, who had previously abridged Charles Doughty's Travels in Arabia Deserta, offers to make an abridgement of Seven Pillars for publication. Lawrence accepts the idea.

On 30 August Lawrence presents himself at the RAF recruiting office at Covent Garden. He fails the medical exam but is accepted on orders from the Air Ministry. He is posted to RAF recruits' training depot at Uxbridge under the pseudonym John Hume Ross, and begins three months' basic training. While there, he will make notes for a projected book about life in the ranks.

October 1922

Edward Garnett finishes the first draft of his abridged Seven Pillars. After revision, it will be offered for publication to Jonathan Cape. However, three months later George Bernard Shaw will persuade Lawrence to abandon the scheme.

November 1922

On 7 November Lawrence is posted from Uxbridge to the RAF School of Photography at Farnborough.

December 1922

The press reveals that Lawrence is serving in the ranks of the RAF under a pseudonym.

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