Behind the inscription in this book lies a fascinating story, linked to the turbulent history of Poland in the 20th century. Stanislaw Szostak was born in 1898 in Belarus, now an independent country, but part of the Soviet Union after the October Revolution. He was sent to officer cadet school in St Petersburg, Russia in 1917, and took part in an unsuccessful mutiny against the incoming Bolsheviks during the Revolution, for which he was imprisoned for a month.