The Essential T.E. Lawrence is both an anthology and an autobiography; not only does it contain a wide-ranging selection of Lawrence's writings, it also offers us the story of his life. It begins with the eloquent letters of the young adventurer from Oxford, eagerly expanding his horizons beyond Britain to France and subsequently to the Middle East; it ends with the fatal telegram 30 years later which preceded his last motor-cycle ride from Bovington Camp to Clouds Hill. In between we meet Lawrence as an archaeologist, intelligence officer, soldier-in-the-field, polemicist, diplomat, and Tank Corps or RAF serviceman under the aliases of Ross and, later, Shaw.