MEDIA CONTACT: Sharon Dickman 585.275.4128

October 20, 2003

Discussion with co-authors of a new book on Polish contributions to Allied victories during World War II

TIME, DATE, AND PLACE: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28, in the Great Hall of Rush Rhees Library on the University of Rochester's River Campus

ADMISSION: Free and open to the public

Journalists Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud set out to write about courageous Polish fighter pilots during World War II and finished with a book that also reveals the failure of British and American governments to come to Poland's aid. The authors will discuss A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron, The Forgotten Heroes of World War II at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28, in the Great Hall of the Rush Rhees Library on the University of Rochester's River Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Released last month, the book is part adventure story about the Kosciuszko Squadron (named for Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the Polish patriot who fought in the American Revolution) and part political analysis. Olson and Cloud say that Britain's Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt were "unwilling to jeopardize" their alliance with Russia for the sake of protecting Poland. They call their book "a full and balanced account of that betrayal" while giving Poles "the credit they deserve for their important contributions" during the war.

The authors of A Question of Honor (Knopf, $27.95 hardcover) are husband and wife with stellar credentials as writers, foreign correspondents, national reporters, and editors at top Americans newspapers and magazines during the past 30 years. They also co-authored The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism (1996), a biography of the correspondents whom Edward R. Murrow hired during the war years to create CBS News. Olson is the author of Freedom's Daughters: The Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement from 1830 to 1970 (2001).

The discussion is sponsored by the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies and the Department of History at the University of Rochester. The center supports research and teaching about the historical legacy and political and economic changes within Central Europe.

For more information, contact the center at (585) 275-9898.

About the University of Rochester

The University of Rochester (www.rochester.edu) is one of the nation's leading private universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and the Memorial Art Gallery.

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