303 Squadron

Author ARKADY FIEDLER (1894-1985), was born in Poznan,Poland, educated at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, in Poznan and at theUniversity of Leipzig. A best-selling travel writer researching in Tahiti when WWIIbegan, Fiedler made his way back to Europe and joined the Polish Army in Franceafter Poland had fallen to the Germans. His 32 books have been translated into 23 languages sellingover 10 million copies. 303 Squadron is his most famous andpopular book. Translator JAREK GARLINSKI, born in London, England, grew upbilingual in English and Polish. Hisfather, noted historian and author Jozef Garlinski, and his mother EileenShort-Garlinska, one of only a few Britons who spent WWII in Warsaw, bothserved in the Polish Underground Army during the war. Educated at the University of Nottingham, the University ofGrenoble, and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at theUniversity of London, Garlinski is fluent in French, Russian, English andPolish, with a distinguished career in education. He has translated numerous books of Polishliterature and history, specializing in the WWII era.

Summer of 1940 and the Battle of Britain -- the darkest days of WWII. England stood alone, fighting for its life against the powerful German war machine. The celebrated squadron of Polish fighter pilots whose superb skill in the air helped save England during its most desperate hours -- lionized by the British press, congratulated by the King, adored by the British public--is painted with an immediacy that vividly brings to life those harrowing days.