Lawrence's biographers have a mixed reaction towards the film. The authorised biographer Jeremy Wilson noted that the film has "undoubtedly influenced the perceptions of some subsequent biographers", such as the depiction of the film's Ali being real, rather than a composite character, and also the highlighting the Deraa incident. The film's historical inaccuracies, in Wilson's view, are more troublesome than should be allowed under normal dramatic licence. At the time, Liddell Hart publicly criticised the film and engaged Bolt in a lengthy correspondence over its portrayal of Lawrence.