-
Oxford, England
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Hooked on history as a boy, "Ned" roamed the fields and riverbanks behind his home in Oxford, England, on the lookout for artifacts from Britain's age of chivalry. At about age ten, he learned the unhappy truth about his own family: He and his four brothers were illegitimate, his parents unmarried, and the family name, Lawrence, fictitious.
—From "Lawrence of Arabia: A Hero's Journey," January 1999, National Geographic magazine
-
Wadi Rum, Jordan
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Our little caravan grew self-conscious, and fell dead quiet, afraid and ashamed to flaunt its smallness in the presence of the stupendous hills of Wadi Rum, Jordan.
—From "Lawrence of Arabia: A Hero's Journey," January 1999, National Geographic magazine
-
Al Aqabah Harbor, Jordan
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
A boat floats in Al Aqabah (Akaba) Harbor, Jordan. On July 6, 1917, T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and an Arab guerrilla group captured this Red Sea port from the Turks.
—Photographed on assignment for, but not published in, "Lawrence of Arabia: A Hero's Journey," January 1999, National Geographic magazine
-
Castle in Syria
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Lawrence succeeded in visiting 36 crusader castles, making careful notes, drawings, and photographs of what he saw, including the castle pictured above in Syria. These he included in his thesis, which earned him a first class at Oxford—graduation with highest honors.
—Photographed on assignment for, but not published in, “Lawrence of Arabia: A Hero’s Journey,” January 1999, National Geographic magazine
-
Al Aqabah Harbor, Jordan
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
A man pulls up an anchor line in Al Aqabah Harbor, Jordan. The Red Sea port of Al Aqabah (Akaba) was seized on July 6, 1917, by Arabs as part of a two-year campaign “to win independence for Arabs after four centuries of Turkish rule.”
—From “Lawrence of Arabia: A Hero’s Journey,” January 1999, National Geographic magazine
-
Cottage in Dorset
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Retired from the RAF [Royal Air Force] at age 46, Lawrence settled into a cottage in Dorset, but the peace he’d felt in the military slipped away. While riding his motorcycle a few months later, Lawrence crested a hill and met two boys on bicycles … Swerving to miss them, he crashed, fractured his skull, and died. Lawrence was, Winston Churchill assured a grieving Britain, ‘one of the greatest beings alive in our time.’
—From “Lawrence of Arabia: A Hero’s Journey,” January 1999, National Geographic magazine
