Dr Schweitzer, a former internationally-famous organist and theologian, is working in a small hospital in French colonial Africa. He founded the institute at his own expense, leaving his wife and child behind in Europe. The outbreak of the First World War sparks unrest amongst the natives. It also brings the local French officials to the hospital. They intern him as an enemy alien due to his German birth, despite the fact that this will mean the closure of the only medical facility anywhere in the area.
—Igenlode Wordsmith