"The best epic saga of the prewar period"
Czesław Miłosz: History of Polish Literature
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AD 1726: a Polish-Virginian renegade became the war chief of an Orinoco Indian tribe.
Take a walk on the wild side.
The White Jaguar: a profoundly moving tale of a strange and wonderful people in a strange and wonderful land.
In 1726, a Virginian privateer was sunk in the Caribbean and its only survivor, a Polish-Virginian running from the law, washed ashore on an uninhabited island. At first, he dreamed of nothing other than returning to "civilization," but Fate had other plans. It put the Arawak Indians in his path who then, in time, became his adopted nation. Spanish chronicles record the presence of a white warrior among the Arawaks and, as late as 1942, the Arawaks themselves told tales of their White Jaguar.
This is his story.
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The Author
Arkady Fiedler (1894-1985) was a Polish writer, journalist and adventurer. He studied philosophy and natural science at in Cracow and and later in Poznań and Leipzig. He traveled widely but the Guyanas and the Orinoco have been his special love where visited repeatedly staying for months in the jungle. He wrote 32 books that have been translated into 23 languages and sold over 10 million copies. His most famous and popular book, written in 1942, was Squadron 303 about the legendary Kościuszko Squadron fighting during the Battle of Britain; it sold over 1.5 million copies.
OUR OTHER GREAT POLISH BOOKS
Aleksander Krawczuk, Europe's cult author of books on Graeco-Roman antiquity.
Joe Alex: The epic tale of a Bronze Age Minoan expedition to the Baltic.
Witold Makowiecki: two fun adventures set in the Greek Iron Age that have become school reading classics:
Arkady Fiedler: in 1726, a Polish-Virginian joined a trinbe of Orinoco Indians
Zbig Nienacki: the iconic mystery series featuring the bumbling art detective, Mr. Wheels.
Maria Rodziewiczówna: the still immensely popular novels by perhaps the most interesting woman author of the turn of the twentieth century
