Lawrence of Arabia - (Paperback) | Released: 01 Jul 2014

This book presents a new understanding of the classic film, Lawrence of Arabia. Throughout the film there is the pervading presence of Islam which is of critical importance to truly grasping the failure of T.E. Lawrence's heroic efforts in the Middle East during World War I. This phenomenon was virtually unrecognized by the movie-going public in the 1960's and it is still overlooked today. The authors invite readers to see this film as they have never seen it before. Although unrecognized by the audience and the film industry, the producers of Lawrence of Arabia deftly introduced into the narrative: tribalism, the debilitating effect of Islamic fatalism (Inshallah), the primitive treatment of women, children and slaves, looting, wanton violence and cultural stagnation. Many of those traits are just as evident today in the Middle East as they were 100 years ago. The book explains in detail just how accurate and informed these remarkable film makers were about the enigmatic nature of Islam. Risking large amounts of money, the film makers dared to make a film without a speaking role for an actress, but chose accuracy over commercial success. They also employed two unknown actors in key roles and removed the initial script-writer when he failed to capture what the film was attempting to dramatize. The producer and the director knew exactly what they wanted and it was more, much more, than a swashbuckling yarn of an obscure action in War World I. It was more, much more, than a portrait of one of the 20th Century's most compelling characters, T.E. Lawrence. The film industry through the auspices of the American Film Institute (AFI) annually ranks the Lawrence of Arabia among the Top Ten movies of all time. Steven Spielberg has called the movie a "miracle" based solely on its movie-making particulars but the movie was more, much more, than the AFI or Mr. Spielberg ever knew. This in no way indicts either Mr. Spielberg or the AFI. They only missed what everyone else who has seen this movie has missed - everyone except the movie censors in the Middle East who banned the showing of the movie. Read this book and see the film once again to understand why.
About the Author: I have elected to use the nom de plume, C "H" Martel, which is an abbreviated version of the 8th Century, King of the Franks, Charles "The Hammer" Martel Although, to date no author critical of Islam has been killed in North America (they have in Europe) however, writers have been beaten and one cartoonist has had to change her name and relocate due to death threats the FBI deemed credible. Virtually all authors in this genre are constantly assaulted by death threats. In my own situation I have another factor inasmuch as I happen to carry a unique surname. The name is not unique in terms of "fame or fortune" but the name itself is simply one of a kind. There may be a hundred plus individuals in the U.S. who also carry this name and another group of individuals in a particular valley in Ireland. All these people are related to me and to one another. I happen to know perhaps a dozen or so. I simply do not feel comfortable exposing these innocent people to Islamic retribution regardless as to how remote this threat may or may not be. None of these people have anything to do with this book.