The Last Cruise of the Emden is the true story of one of the most extraordinary and little-known escapades of World War I. On August 2, 1914, the Emden, a German light cruiser, was steaming peacefully off the China coast when over its wireless came the message that the German Empire was at war. The ship was made ready for action. Sailing to the Indian Ocean under orders, the Emden sank some twenty merchant vessels - most of them British - a Russian cruiser, and a French destroyer. What followed was a six-month voyage that took the Emden and its crew halfway around the world, fighting heroic battles both on land and at sea, culminating in a dramatic journey across the Arabian desert, which saw the crew survive attacks of malaria, typhus, dysentery, and the murderous onslaught of Lawrence of Arabia's bedouin tribesmen.