A Line in the Sand reveals how Britain and France went from wartime buddies to Middle East rivals after World War I. James Barr digs into declassified documents to expose the secret deals—especially the sneaky Sykes–Picot Agreement—that carved up the Ottoman Empire and left Arabs betrayed. Packed with espionage, oil politics, and larger-than-life characters like Lawrence of Arabia, this gripping account shows how imperial scheming created the messy borders and conflicts that still haunt the region today.