Elie Kedouri: the Curse of the West

One of the iconic films of my youth was Lawrence of Arabia, which I actually saw in France in 1964. I can still remember the dramatic scene of the taking of Damascus, with Lawrence and his rag-taggle Sharifian army sweeping through the city, cleansing it of its Ottoman oppressors. Certainly a moving and exciting piece of cinematography, representing a powerful, almost mythical, moment of modern times. Here, in short, was the nemesis of the great and centuries old Ottoman Empire.