I love this story; it is about a period in history that I am very interested in. The First World War and the shenanigans in East Africa are truly unbelievable. Alex Campus takes us on a wonderful journey from Papenburg in Germany and The Admiralty in Britain through various parts of East Africa to one of the great lakes, Lake Tanganyika.
Most people will not even have heard of this lake, but during the First World War, it was a hive of activity and a major battleground between the Germans and the British, where lives were lost and ensigns were won.
Lieutenant Spicer Simons is a self-important man awaiting his moment in the sun. He feels his skills have been overlooked by the Admiralty as he is ordered to survey a river in the West African country of The Gambia. He languishes in his boring, malaria-ridden world, waiting to be discovered for his one great naval battle.
Meanwhile, in Papenburg, Germany, in the Meyer-Werft Shipyard, a ship was being built to change the war’s course. Anton Ruter was tasked with building the ship, dismantling it, packing it into crates, and shipping it to Africa, where it would be rebuilt on the lake.
Although Spicer and Ruter are on a mad chase across Africa to help with the war, they never actually meet.
A Matter of Time uses historical facts linked with excellent fictional writing to bring together all of the pieces of history and intertwine them with well-developed, human, fictional characters to bring to life a battle between two nations.
We follow the two main characters as they struggle against the odds to get their respective vessels into place and ready to defend their colonial bases. The story does an excellent job of providing a fascinating tale of the fight for Lake Tanganyika. Alex Capus expertly weaves the descriptions of colonial white cotton dresses, drinks at six sharp, and parties on the lawn with the British stiff upper lip of getting things done at all costs.
A Matter of Time takes us on a journey back to a long-gone era. It shows the pompous levels of bureaucracy on both sides as men’s lives are put at risk for the sake of a piece of real estate that will be worthless a few years later.
I enjoyed A Matter of Time and think that Alex Capus did a great job bringing this lost and forgotten story to life. Although it was published in 2013, some of the language is not as PC as we would expect today. However, Alex Capus tries to bring out the realities of colonial East Africa, and the terrible treatment metered out from both powers to the local tribesmen of the area.
I enjoyed A Matter of Time and would recommend it to anyone who has a passion for East African history and culture, like me.
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