Rogue Raider

Set in Singapore and Indonesia during the First World War, Rogue Raider is based on real people and true events and follows the adventures of Julius Lauterbach, a real and well-known captain in the German Imperial Navy and the historically important ship that catapulted Lauterbach to accidental fame (and infamy), His Imperial Majesty's Emden. For every austere virtue of the Emden's noble, ruthless and gentlemanly commander Lieutenant-Commander Karl von Mueller, it seems Lauterbach possessed the corresponding vice. He was a beer-guzzling, cigar-smoking filcher, a braggart and, above all, a survivor. A seasoned sailor, Lauterbach was familiar with Asia, spoke many local languages and had more than one lady in every port of call. He was made prize officer on the Emden, in charge of loot, and never was a person so perfectly suited to his job. The Flashmanesque Lauterbach was more interested in making money, hoarding the spoils of war and womanising than actually fighting in the war. He was imprisoned in Singapore by the British for a short time but instigated the Singapore Mutiny among his Indian guards as a diversion and made his escape. The book follows his adventures in the German navy in the war in Asia, and his subsequent flight from the British through Asia to America and back to Germany.