Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (English: Thomas Edward Lawrence, often called TE Lawrence, August 16, 1888-May 19, 1935), also known as "Lawrence of Arabia" (Lawrence of Arabia), was a British Military officer, famous for his role as a British liaison officer in the Arab Uprisings of 1916-1918. He became a public icon in part because of the sensational reportage written by American traveler and journalist Lowell Jackson Thomas about the uprising, and Lawrence's autobiographical record "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom." Many Arabs saw him as a folk hero, pushing their ideals of freedom from the Ottoman Empire and European rule; similarly, many British included him as one of their country's greatest war heroes.