Mimi and Toutou's Big Adventure: The Bizarre Battle of Lake Tanganyika

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.