The Arab Revolt | Common Purpose, Competing Interests

The riders sat on their mounts, horses and camels, and gazed across the desert toward the shimmering sea and a small village on its shore. An old fortress dominated what passed for a skyline, the only building that stood more than two stories above the ground. Clusters of palm trees waved in the hot, dry wind, and the soldiers could see knots of people moving about in the town's plaza. No enemy troops were visible and no defenses prepared. The long journey across the desert toward their target had yielded a strategic surprise. Fifty men on horseback stayed in place, while the larger group of four hundred men riding camels began to move left and right. The soldiers on foot rested, knowing they would soon have to run across rocky ground to keep up with the cavalry. Two men had planned this attack; one would lead the horsemen straight toward the target while the other rode his camel around to hit the flanks. With only a nod from their leader, the men charged toward the town of Aqaba. Most students of the First World War know of the great campaigns by mighty armies on the Western and Eastern fronts. Some know of smaller battles fought in Italy, Greece, and on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. But few—apart from some movie buffs—know the story of the Great Arab Revolt of 1916-18 that brought down an empire that had lasted for over six centuries and gave us the modern Middle East with all its glories and terrors. The revolt was a minor affair in the minds of generals in London, Paris, Berlin, and Constantinople, and its impact on the overall course of the Great War was small. But it produced some of the greatest heroes of that war, men whose deeds shaped the future course of millions of lives around the world. Join us as we teach you about the Arab Revolt and Thomas Edward Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia.