The book offers a wide perspective on the history of the capital of the Kingdom of Poland. The Kingdom was a small part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which passed under the rule of the Russian Tsars. The book presents the life of the streets, squares and parks, special events, the changing infrastructure and the rise of consumerism. It describes how Warsaw became a monumental capital in a short period of 1815-1830. The main plot of the book is the political dimension of the space: publicly expressed sympathies and aversions towards politicians, rising control and Russification, acts of loyalty and anti-Russian demonstrations to regain hegemony in the early 1860s. The author reflects on the question if the modern definitions of the public space can be applied to a historic city.

The summer of 1940 and the Battle of Britainthe darkestdays of World War II. France, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands,Luxembourg and Norway had all been crushed by the powerful Nazi German warmachine. Great Britain stood alone, fighting for its life. 303 Squadron is the thrilling storyof the celebrated squadron of Polish fighter pilots whose superb skill in theair helped save England during its most desperate hours. They were thehighest-scoring Allied fighter squadron in the Battle of Britain, downing threetimes the average RAF score while incurring only one-third the averagecasualties. Dashing and gallant 303 Squadron was lionized by the British press,congratulated by the King, and adored by the British public. With an immediacy that vividly brings to life those harrowing days, Fiedlerpaints the bravery, the poignancy, the breathtaking gambles with death riskeddaily by this exceptional group of young men far from home, who fought topreserve freedom for all. Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polishsquadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcomeof the battle would have been the same." British Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding Translated from the Polish; identifies the pilots by their real names for thefirst time in English. Nearly 200 black & white photos, maps andillustrations; contextualizing historical material; nine appendices. Selection of the History Book Club and theMilitary Book Club. Winner: GOLD Award for History, 2011 Benjamin Franklin Awards SILVER Award for Interior Design, 2011 Benjamin Franklin Awards Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

In 1940, the Polish Underground wanted to know what was happening inside the recently opened Auschwitz concentration camp. Polish army officer Witold Pilecki volunteered to be arrested by the Germans and reported from inside the camp. His intelligence reports, smuggled out in 1941, were among the first eyewitness accounts of Auschwitz atrocities: the extermination of Soviet POWs, its function as a camp for Polish political prisoners, and the final solution" for Jews. Pilecki received brutal treatment until he escaped in April 1943; soon after, he wrote a brief report. This book is the first English translation of a 1945 expanded version. In the foreword, Poland's chief rabbi states, If heeded, Pilecki's early warnings might have changed the course of history." Pilecki's story was suppressed for half a century after his 1948 arrest by the Polish Communist regime as a Western spy." He was executed and expunged from Polish history. Pilecki writes in staccato style but also interjects his observations on humankind's lack of progress: We have strayed, my friends, we have strayed dreadfully...we are a whole level of hell worse than animals!" These remarkable revelations are amplified by 40 b&w photos, illus., and maps