Storytelling is a venerable and often the most accurate way to teach history. Our guest co-author of the new A Line In the Sand, Miles Spencer, traveled with his partner along the 1100 mile trail of clues left by TE Lawrence through the deserts of the Middle East. They have a story to tell which engages and explains how that region got where it is today. And what should the US do? His answer is “smother them with aid.”