And so I was surprised to learn who he was, what he had done, and that he'd written this long and allegedly beautiful book called Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Lawrence as a kind of archetypal outsider. I happened to be reading at that time another book called The Outsider by Colin Wilson. And I was looking for something to bring with me to read. So, I had a, I had a month to myself, and I was travelling for the first time to the Middle East. Zachary Davis: Stang first came across this book when he was abroad in the 1990s.Ĭharles Stang: Well, I was living in England at the time, and as you may know, England has these long breaks, these long vacations, and this was the Easter vacation. I'm a professor at Harvard Divinity School, and I'm the director of the Center for the Study of World Religions there. What most people don’t know, however, is that Lawrence of Arabia is based on Lawrence’s book Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an autobiographical account of his role in WWI.Ĭharles Stang: It's one of the most profound reading experiences I've ever had. It’s even the film that Steven Spielberg credits for inspiring him to become a director. Since then, its reputation has only grown and is now considered one of the greatest films ever made. It earned the equivalent of what would be today $600,000,000 at the box office and swept the oscars, including Best Picture.

Lawrence, a British military officer who played a key role in World War I. Zachary Davis: In 1962, Columbia Pictures released Lawrence of Arabia, a nearly four hour epic film depicting T.E.

Lawrence of arabia seven pillars