Revealed: TE Lawrence felt ‘bitter shame’ over UK’s false promises of Arab self rule

Deleted chapter of book by British spy who supported Arab revolt reveals his true feelings about insincere pledge of self-government

TE Lawrence was continually and bitterly ashamed" of the betrayal of the Middle East following the Arab revolt in which he became a British national hero, according to a chapter in his book The Seven Pillars of Wisdom which he decided to remove before publication.

He was persuaded to remove the chapter by his friend, the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, and it was never printed in any edition. However, for the first time, an extremely rare copy of the manuscript - including the expunged chapter - has come to the open market with a price tag of 65,000.