The wisdom of Uncle Kasimir - Gabi Czerniak

Born in 1918, Kasimir Czerniak, self-made millionaire and enigmatic genius, had a traditional Polish upbringing under the vigilant eye of his father, the great military general Stanislaw Czerniak. His passage into manhood, at twelve, was determined by his ability to hold a huge, heavy sword over the neck of a puppy without dropping it. During the war Kasimir was a soldier, and later a spy, and then in 1945 he came to Britain with only the clothes on his back and a pencil, but 'with one pencil man can make picture of his own good fortune'. In 1980 he moved to the Swiss Alps with his dog Anna Karenina III.

Following the unsolved mystery of his disappearance, his family was sent a wooden chest of correspondence. There were letters of advice to his nephews and nieces, patents for inventions, desperately sad love letters, a baffling series of reviews of motorway stops between London and Edinburgh, his notes on 'Common Mistakes in English', and references to a new companion, Marjorie Petigrew ('MARGARINE/MARJORIE - Marjorie is very kind woman next door. MARGARINE one does put on toast. Do not confuse.')

The Wisdom of Uncle Kasimir offers a wonderful, moving, funny and uplifting portrait of the man, the genius, the benefactor - and ultimately of the Uncle.