It is amazing that a one hundred year old book can give valid insight into today's Middle East but this book does just that. You may have to, like me, read it through a couple of times but, the second time around, your mind will open to the dramatic interplay among all the participants rather than the adventure that it surely is. You will understand, hot only how the Middle East became what it is today but, how our futile Modern efforts, fail in the face of thousands of years of history. Not surprising that Winston Churchill called it one of the best books to have been written. I am constantly recommending it to friends.

This edition if Seven Pillars is a rife with errors. Names inconsistently spelled, incorrect words in sentences, and the inexplicable appearance of "Me" peppered throughout the edition. Even, at the very end, in the "More Books by" list, there is an error. The listed book (another edition of Seven Pillars of Wisdom?) shows D. H. Lawrence as the author. David Herbert Lawrence is different notable english-born author. T.E. went under a couple of alias' in his life, but that wasn't one of them. This edition is an unmitigated disaster.