When the First World War breaks out, the British navy is committed to engaging the enemy wherever there is water to float a shipeven if the body of water in question is a remote African lake and the enemy an intimidating fleet of German steamers. The leader of this improbable mission is Geoffrey Spicer-Simson whose navy career thus far had been distinguished by two sinkings. His seemingly impossible charge: to trek overland through the African bush hauling Mimi and Toutoutwo forty-foot mahogany gunboatswith a band of cantankerous, insubordinate Scotsmen, Irishmen and Englishmen to defeat the Germans on Lake Tanganyika. With its powerfully evoked landscape, cast of hilariously colorful characters and remarkable story of hubris, ingenuity and perseverance, this incredibly bizarre storyinspiration for the classic film The African Queenis history at its most entertaining and absorbing.From the Trade Paperback edition.