Military Theory and Irregular Warfa

Military Theory and Irregular WarfareInitially, Lawrence had little time to reflect seriously and critically about his theater of operations. Upon arriving in the Hejaz, Lawrence saw “a crying need for action;” so he uncritically relied too much on instinct in developing his initial courses of action. However, in March 1917, a combination of boils, dysentery, and malaria laid him up in a tent for some ten days.10 During this rather lengthy convalescence, Lawrence turned to serious thought and critical analysis. He searched, in his own words, “for the equation between my book-reading and my movements.”11 He sought to connect theory with practice; the abstract with the concrete. Only then could a compass be found with which to negotiate through the Bedouin world of warfare.