Wojtek the Bear, Aileen Orr (Birlinn) FACT

Posted 15:26, 21 January 2011

What an amazing story. An cutle ickle baby bear cub adopted by some soft-hearted Polish soldiers in Iran grows up to become a 500-pound cigarette-smoking beer-drinking fully enlisted soldier carrying heavy mortar rounds for the troops during the Italian campaign. Your heartstrings will be tugged and you will learn a whole lot about the Polish experience in the Second World War and beyond. Wotjek, along with many of his fellow soldiers, decamped to the Scottish Borders. He was then (tearfully) moved to Edinburgh Zoo where, after another 17 years, his life ended. Wojtek has become a potent symbol of freedom and solidarity for Poles around the world.

Hb. £9.99