Friday 4 January 2008

T.E.Lawrence and Thomas Hardy - their friendship


Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888-1935) also known as 'Lawrence of Arabia', when he was posted to the Bovington Tank Depot in Dorset in 1923, met Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) the Dorset novelist and poet at his Dorchester home of Max Gate. They became great friends, and after Hardy's death Lawrence kept a correspondence with Hardy's widow Florence.
This story has been extensively researched by Ronald Knight, who has written and privately published limited editions of: COLONEL T.E.LAWRENCE (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA) VISITS MR & MRS THOMAS HARDY (1985); T.E.LAWRENCE AND THE MAX GATE CIRCLE (1988) with a second revised edition in 1995. Enough further information has since been amassed to warrant yet another revised edition.
Although the above publications are out-of-print, copies may possibly be obtainable on the internet through ebay, abebooks, etc.