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When teaching at Oxford University, the oldest in England, I was regularly served meals on High Table underneath a magnificent portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. The 16th Century work by court artist Nicholas Hilliard is in the dining Hall at Jesus College – where I lectured in French – alongside paintings of others linked with the great seat of learning, including former British Prime Minister and alumnus Harold Wilson.
A framed image of T.E.Lawrence, the fabled “Lawrence of Arabia”, was of particular interest to me. He was due to become an academic at Oxford, after reading History at Jesus but, thanks to a university scholarship, Lawrence was able to head to the Middle East, to learn Arabic, and take part in archeological digs. All of this laid the foundations for him to join the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire as a British Intelligence officer during the First World War.
