Also from the contemporary point of view...it obviously takes the side of the British but the rise of Arab nationalism has been an utter disaster. The Turkey of Ataturk was the side to root for there.
Of course, though, the Soviet Union, would have gotten involved there too, and tried to appeal to the Arabs. You never know how these things would have turned out.
The British always used a divide and conquer strategy to control their empires (or areas they hoped to make part of their empire). They played a similar game in India by playing Muslims and Hindus against each other.
The disaster that you speak of is due to the fact that "Arab nationalism" never really worked - Arabs tend think in terms of tribal and sectarian identity, not national or even ethnic identity.
In the short term, the strategy worked very well for the British, because they could claim to be coming in to maintain order. Once they left, you have a powderkeg ready to blow.
All the Turks were firing Mauser pistols, including the one who tried to off Lawrence; every time he raised it I thought, I gotta have one of those! Took years before I did.
In grad school I saw some dudes around a car with the hood up. They were Turks. I got it to start up again. Grateful, they bought me a beer.
We talked Turkish politics (Ataturk was a god to them) and then I asked if they’d seen Lawrence of Arabia. They exploded. I recall them saying:
“That movie cannot be shown in our country!!”
“It is nothing but Arab propaganda!!”
And then....
“We are not a bunch of queers!!!”
That’s how I learned that Turks are not cool with Arabs, Muslim or not.