As Kevin Jackson shows, the process of bringing T. E. Lawrence to the screen was a long and often bitter battle, with many reverses. Marlon Brando was the producer's first choice for the lead role, and Albert Finney the favoured substitute; Robert Bolt, a leading member of CND, spent part of the production in prison, and then entered into a fierce credit dispute with the original screenwriter, Michael Wilson; Lean and his producer, Sam Spiegel, were locked in endless financial and creative arguments, and the epic shoot was a logistical nightmare. And, long before Spiegel and Lean joined forces, the Lawrence story had already defeated many earlier film-makers, notably Korda, whose abortive attempts to bring the Desert Revolt to the screen lasted well over a decade.<BR>Beginning with an account of the extraordinary and paradoxical character of its hero's flawed genius, Kevin Jackson's study investigates not only the victories and defeats of Lean's masterpiece but also the longer history of Lawrence of Arabia and the cinema.