chronology
1888, 16th August: Thomas Edward Lawrence is born.
1896: The Lawrence family moves to Oxford.
1907-1910: Lawrence studies at Jesus College, Oxford. For his thesis on crusader castles he cycles 2,400 miles through France and walks 1,100 miles in Syria.
1911: Lawrence starts work as an archaeologist at Carchemish in Syria.
1914: War begins. Lawrence is sent to Cairo.
1915: Lawrence's two brothers, Will and Frank, die in France.
1916: The Arab Revolt begins and Lawrence joins Sherif Faisal in his campaigns against the Turks.
1918: Damascus is captured from the Turks. Lawrence returns to England.
1919: The Paris Peace Conference dashes Arab dreams of independence.
1921-1922: Lawrence, working with Churchill at the Colonial Office, helps to achieve some degree of Arab self-rule.
1922-1935: Lawrence first joins the Royal Air Force under the pseudonym of J.H. Ross, but disclosures in the press cause his discharge. He serves in the Tank Corps, then rejoins the RAF as T.E. Shaw. During this period he publishes Seven Pillars of Wisdom, The Mint and his translations of Le Corbeau's Gigantesque and Homer's Odyssey.
1935, 19 May: Lawrence dies as a result of a motorcycle accident near his home in Dorset.
