WW2 Books from Aquila Polonica Publishing Win Four Prestigious 2011 Benjamin Franklin Awards

PRLog (Press Release) - May 31, 2011 - Three books published by Aquila Polonica Publishing, based in Los Angeles and the U.K., took top honors at the 2011 Benjamin Franklin Awards in a ceremony held in New York City May 23. Sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association, the Awards recognize excellence in independent publishing.

Arkady Fiedler’s 303 Squadron won the top Gold Award in the History category, and a Silver Award for Interior Design.  Maps and Shadows, by Krysia Jopek, won a Silver Award for Historical Fiction, and The Ice Road, by Stefan Waydenfeld, won a Silver Award for Autobiography/Memoir.

“We were thrilled to win top honors in a competition that drew nearly 1,300 entries,” said Terry Tegnazian, co-founder of Aquila Polonica Publishing. She was on hand at the IBPA’s gala ceremony to accept the Awards.

Aquila Polonica specializes in publishing the story of Poland in World War II.  “We are such a young company and the competition was so fierce.  Winning these awards feels like a vote of confidence that we’re doing something right,” added Aquila Polonica co-founder Stefan Mucha from his office in the U.K.

Aquila Polonica’s 2011 Benjamin Franklin award-winning titles are:

•   303 Squadron: The Legendary Battle of Britain Fighter Squadron, by Arkady Fiedler, translated by Jarek Garlinski, won the top Gold Award for History and the Silver Award for Interior Design. It’s the story of the famous squadron of Polish fighter pilots that played a critical role in the skies over Great Britain during the darkest days of World War II. The book includes nearly 200 archival black and white photos, maps and illustrations. The Washington Times calls 303 Squadron a “must-read.”

•   The Ice Road: An Epic Journey from the Stalinist Labor Camps to Freedom, by Stefan Waydenfeld, won the Silver Award for Autobiography/Memoir. This is a teenage boy’s vivid account of his family’s deportation from Poland to a forced labor camp in the Russian arctic north. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum calls it “extraordinary.”

•   Maps and Shadows, by Krysia Jopek, won the Silver Award for Historical Fiction. This lyrical debut novel shifts points of view among four members of a family sent first to Siberia, then to distant corners of the globe, eventually reuniting after the war.

Aquila Polonica Publishing http://www.polandww2.com is dedicated to publishing, in English, the Polish experience of World War II with first-hand accounts, memoirs, photographs, artwork, poetry, literature and historical studies.  The company’s book "The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt: War Through a Woman’s Eyes 1939-1940," by Rulka Langer, won the 2010 Benjamin Franklin Silver Award for Best First Book (Nonfiction).

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Aquila Polonica Publishing is dedicated to publishing, in English, the Polish experience of World War II with first-hand accounts, memoirs, photographs, artwork, poetry, literature and historical studies. The company is based in Los Angeles and the U.K.

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