"The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt" Wins 2010 Publishing Prize for Excellence

Online, June 8, 2010 (Newswire.com) - NEW YORK, NY - "The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt: War Through a Woman's Eyes, 1939-1940," by Rulka Langer, published by Aquila Polonica Publishing, won the 2010 Benjamin Franklin Silver Award in the category of The Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book (Nonfiction).

The award was presented May 24, 2010 at the Independent Book Publishers Association's 22nd annual Benjamin Franklin Awards gala dinner in New York City, held just prior to the BookExpo America trade show. The Benjamin Franklin Awards, launched in 1987 to recognize excellence in independent publishing, are open to all publishers and honor the best books of the preceding year.

"The Mermaid" (ISBN 978-1-60772-000-3) is a rare eyewitness account of the early, chaotic days of World War II - the Nazi German invasion of Poland, the Siege of Warsaw and the first few months of the Nazi German occupation - written by a young Polish career woman and mother. This new edition includes more than 100 historical photographs, maps and illustrations (many never before published) and other material not included in the original 1942 edition.

Bestselling author Alan Furst ("The Foreign Correspondent" and "The Spies of Warsaw") calls it "absolutely one of the best eyewitness accounts of WWII Poland that I ever read."

A panel of 150 book industry experts - including buyers at wholesale and retail levels, librarians, book critics, design experts and independent publishing consultants - evaluated more than 1,300 submissions in 50 categories to choose three finalists for each category.

With more than 3,200 members, the IBPA is the largest trade association representing independent publishers.

For more information contact Debra Gendel, publicity, 310-710-1903, or Terry Tegnazian, publisher, 310-470-0770. Or go to our web site, http://www.AquilaPolonica.com.