“Lawrence was a genius, nothing more and nothing less. ~GB Shaw”

With the Middle East in eery news cycle… Some names just won’t stay quiet. T.E. Lawrence—”Lawrence of Arabia”—is one of them. Malcolm Brown and Julia Cave’s A Touch of Genius delves into the life of this enigmatic British soldier, scholar, and strategist. For me, it felt familiar, like crossing paths with an old friend I’d met on the pages of A Line in the Sand. Men driven by purpose, chasing a cause larger than themselves, all while wrestling with their own disillusionment.

Lawrence’s story is one of extremes. At 5’5″ and 130 pounds, he didn’t command attention by stature, but by force of will. He united fractious Arab tribes, used guerrilla tactics to dismantle the Turks, and eventually became the “Hero of Damascus.” But fame never sat well with him. After witnessing Britain and France carve up the Middle East like leftovers after Thanksgiving, he went into self-exile, joining the RAF under an assumed name. Imagine playing chess with the world and then becoming a pawn in someone else’s game.

The book reveals that his genius was never about brute force. It was about strategy, patience, and persistence. He saw the world not as it was, but as it could be—a trait he shared with another famous British figure, Winston Churchill, who once said of him, “Lawrence was a genius, nothing more and nothing less.” Genius is a tricky word, often reserved for people too brilliant to explain themselves. But Lawrence had it in spades.

It’s impossible to read A Touch of Genius without thinking of Magnus and Finn from A Line in the Sand. Like Lawrence, they’re men caught between eras, navigating shifting sands—literally and metaphorically. The parallels are hard to miss. Magnus and Finn trek across deserts with nothing but wits and grit, just as Lawrence did. Their mission to unite opposing forces in pursuit of a higher goal echoes his attempt to unite the Arab tribes. But there’s something else—disillusionment. Lawrence believed in the nobility of his cause until the moment it broke him. Magnus and Finn know that feeling well.

Brown and Cave do an excellent job of peeling back the layers. We learn about Lawrence’s obsession with perfection, his tactical brilliance, and his love of literature. He was a voracious reader, like many great thinkers, devouring texts on history, geography, and language. He kept journals with pinpoint precision, recalling events and places with uncanny accuracy. In some ways, he was a man at war with himself—a romantic idealist who also knew the brutality required to win.

If you’ve seen David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, you’ve seen the broad strokes of the story. But the book fills in the gaps with rich detail. It’s the difference between watching the tide roll in and diving beneath the waves. You get to see what’s moving beneath the surface.

At one point, George Bernard Shaw said, “Lawrence was a genius, nothing more and nothing less.” And maybe that’s the clearest summation of all. He was a man who sought greatness, achieved it, and despised it. Fame has a way of betraying those who chase it, but Lawrence didn’t chase fame—he chased freedom.

If you’ve got a flight longer than four hours coming up, load up Lawrence of Arabia and pair it with A Touch of Genius. You’ll land smarter than you took off. And if you’re like me, you might just see a little Magnus, Finn, and even yourself, in T.E. Lawrence.