As World War I reaches the heart of the African jungle, Charlie Allnutt and Rose Sayer, a dishevelled trader, and an English spinster missionary, find themselves thrown together by circumstance in German Central Africa. Fighting time, heat, malaria, and bullets, they make their escape on the rickety steamboat The African Queen... and hatch their own outrageous military plan. Originally published in 1935, The African Queen is a tale replete with vintage Forester drama - unrelenting suspense, reckless heroism, impromptu military manoeuvres, near-death experiences - and a good old-fashioned love story to boot.