When the First World War breaks out, the British navy is committed to engaging the enemy wherever there is water to float a ship—even 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 Toutou—two forty-foot mahogany gunboats–with 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 story–inspiration for the classic film The African Queen –is history at its most entertaining and absorbing. "Reads like an amalgam of Evelyn Waugh and Joseph Conrad. The truth is stranger than any fiction, and the pleasure of this book lies in its unbelievable veracity."— The New York Times Book Review “Brisk [and] deliciously entertaining. . . . Foden plays up the peculiar details and eccentric personalities of his story.”— Chicago Tribune "Satisfying. . . . Fast-paced. . . . Filled with fascinating characters." — The Seattle Times "[An] enjoyable book. . . . The real story is . . . more fascinating than the movie [ The African Queen ]."— The Washington Post "Filled with oddball characters and events that . . . just could not be made up. . . . An amazing tale." — Santa Fe New Mexican The Whitbread Award--winning author of "The Last King of Scotland brings his extensive knowledge of Africa to his first work of nonfiction: the incredible true story that inspired the classic film "The African Queen. When the First World War breaks out, the British navy is committed to engaging the enemy wherever there is water to float a ship-even 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, the oldest lieutenant commander in the navy, whose career thus far had been distinguished by two sinkings. His seemingly impossible charge: to trek overland through the African bush hauling "Mimi and "Toutou-two forty-foot mahogany gunboats-and defeat the Germans on Lake Tanganyika. Spicer-Simson sets forth on a lunatic 2,800-mile journey with a band of cantankerous, insubordinate Scotsmen, Irishmen and Englishmen. After going into battle wearing a skirt and becoming the god of an African tribe by showing them his tattoos, he is acclaimed a hero. But the truth about the battle is somewhat more complex. With its powerfully evoked landscape, cast of hilariously colorful characters and remarkable story of hubris, ingenuity and perseverance, "Mimi and Toutou's Big Adventure is history at its most entertaining and absorbing. Giles Foden was born in England in 1967 and grew up in Africa. The author of three novels, he writes for the books pages of The Guardian . In 1998 he won the Whitbread First Novel Award and a Somerset Maugham Award. Chapter One The rectangular patch of gravel in front of the Admiralty had been criss-crossed countless times since the outbreak of hostilities. It is entirely possible that the retired petty-officer doorman paid little attention to the guest who arrived on 21 April 1915. There were, after all, more important matters for a retired petty-officer doorman to consider; not least the recent departure from the Admiralty of the two dynamic but headstrong individuals who had run the place. Namely, the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill and the First Sea Lord Admiral Fisher. They had clashed bitterly over the military fiasco of the Gallipoli campaign. Both were great men; both had fallen because of Churchill’s plan to cut short the War with an invasion of western Turkey. The visitor was tanned and fit and wore civilian clothes, but otherwise there was nothing remarkable about him. His profession sounded glamorous, however. He was a big-game hunter from Africa and he had an appointment to see the new First Sea Lord, Sir Henry Jackson. The story the hunter told would set in train some of the strangest events of the First World War. Their conclusion would make famous—for a while, at least—the navy’s most quixotic character since the days of the privateers. Like the hand-made cigarettes he commissioned, his personality was a particular mixture: one that involved as much cowardice as heroism, as much self-regard as self-belief. This individual’s name—inscribed in pale blue on those hand-made cigarettes—was Geoffrey Spicer-Simson and he held the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He was based in the Admiralty when the hunter paid his visit. The doorman would have known this, because the doormen of Whitehall know everything about the workings of government—especially in wartime, the only time when the W