diff -r ae9fb85ab4e0 Doc/library/zipfile.rst
--- a/Doc/library/zipfile.rst	Tue Dec 03 21:49:30 2013 -0600
+++ b/Doc/library/zipfile.rst	Thu Dec 05 10:16:39 2013 +0100
@@ -423,7 +423,8 @@
 
 .. attribute:: ZipInfo.compress_type
 
-   Type of compression for the archive member.
+   Type of compression for the archive member. Can only be either of 
+   :const:`ZIP_STORED` or :const:`ZIP_DEFLATED`.
 
 
 .. attribute:: ZipInfo.comment
@@ -460,7 +461,14 @@
 
 .. attribute:: ZipInfo.flag_bits
 
-   ZIP flag bits.
+   ZIP flag bits. With the :const:`ZIP_DEFLATED` compression method, bits 1
+   and 2 of this flag control the compression level. The four levels, in
+   increasing order of compression, are: :const:`DEF_S` (Store only),
+   :const:`DEF_F` (Fast), :const:`DEF_N` (Normal) and :const:`DEF_X` (Maximum).
+
+   To set the level, you need to remember to bit-shift these constants::
+
+      zipinfo.flag_bits = (zipfile.DEF_X << 1)
 
 
 .. attribute:: ZipInfo.volume
diff -r ae9fb85ab4e0 Lib/test/test_zipfile.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_zipfile.py	Tue Dec 03 21:49:30 2013 -0600
+++ b/Lib/test/test_zipfile.py	Thu Dec 05 10:16:39 2013 +0100
@@ -13,11 +13,14 @@
 import zipfile
 import unittest
 
+from copy import copy
 from StringIO import StringIO
 from tempfile import TemporaryFile
 from random import randint, random
 from unittest import skipUnless
 
+from zipfile import DEF_N, DEF_X, DEF_F, DEF_S
+
 from test.test_support import TESTFN, TESTFN_UNICODE, TESTFN_ENCODING, \
                               run_unittest, findfile, unlink
 try:
@@ -1316,6 +1319,48 @@
         for f in (TESTFN2, TemporaryFile(), io.BytesIO()):
             self.zip_random_open_test(f, zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED)
 
+    @skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
+    def test_compression_level_from_zipinfo(self):
+        default_info = zipfile.ZipInfo()
+        default_info.compress_type = zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED
+        default_info.internal_attr = 0   # Set: Ascii   Unset: Binary
+
+        deflate_lvls = [DEF_S, DEF_F, DEF_N, DEF_X]
+        # Arranged in increasing order of compression
+
+        f = StringIO()
+        with zipfile.ZipFile(f, "w") as zipfp:
+            for i, level in enumerate(deflate_lvls):
+                fname = 'test%d_lvl%d.txt' % (i, level)
+                # fnames.append(fname)
+                zipinfo = copy(default_info)
+                zipinfo.flag_bits = (level << 1)
+                zipinfo.filename = fname
+
+                zipfp.writestr(zipinfo, self.data)
+
+            info_objs = zipfp.infolist()
+            info_objs.sort(key = lambda i: i.filename)
+
+            # names = [i.filename for i in info_objs]
+            # self.assertEqual(fnames, names)
+
+            last_compress_size = len(self.data) * 10
+            for i, info_obj in enumerate(info_objs):
+                level = (info_obj.flag_bits & 0b110) >> 1
+                self.assertEqual(level, deflate_lvls[i])
+
+                compress_size = info_obj.compress_size
+                if level == DEF_X:
+                    self.assertTrue(compress_size <= last_compress_size)
+                    # This test should also always be strictly less, too, but
+                    # it's not easy to come up with a simple byte string where
+                    # this is the case...
+                else:
+                    self.assertTrue(compress_size < last_compress_size)
+                # print info_obj.filename, level, compress_size
+                last_compress_size = compress_size
+
 
 @skipUnless(zlib, "requires zlib")
 class TestsWithMultipleOpens(unittest.TestCase):
diff -r ae9fb85ab4e0 Lib/zipfile.py
--- a/Lib/zipfile.py	Tue Dec 03 21:49:30 2013 -0600
+++ b/Lib/zipfile.py	Thu Dec 05 10:16:39 2013 +0100
@@ -131,6 +131,16 @@
 _CD64_DIRECTORY_SIZE = 8
 _CD64_OFFSET_START_CENTDIR = 9
 
+# bit flag enums for Deflate compression levels (section 4.4.4 in APPNOTE.TXT),
+# and their mapping to zlib parameters
+DEF_N, DEF_X, DEF_F, DEF_S = 0b00, 0b01, 0b10, 0b11
+deflate_opts = {
+    DEF_S: (zlib.Z_DEFAULT_STRATEGY,    'defS'), # 0  Super Fast. Store only
+    DEF_F: (zlib.Z_BEST_SPEED,          'defF'), # 1  Fast
+    DEF_X: (zlib.Z_BEST_COMPRESSION,    'defX'), # 9  Maximum
+    DEF_N: (zlib.Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION, 'defN'), # 6  Normal (-1 in zlib module def)
+}
+
 def _check_zipfile(fp):
     try:
         if _EndRecData(fp):
@@ -879,10 +889,16 @@
 
     def printdir(self):
         """Print a table of contents for the zip file."""
-        print "%-46s %19s %12s" % ("File Name", "Modified    ", "Size")
+        print "%-38s %s %18s %12s" % ("File Name", "Deflate", 
+                                                    "Modified    ", "Size")
         for zinfo in self.filelist:
+            def_type = '    '
+            if zinfo.compress_type == ZIP_DEFLATED:
+                def_lvl = (zinfo.flag_bits & 0b110) >> 1
+                _, def_type = deflate_opts[def_lvl]
             date = "%d-%02d-%02d %02d:%02d:%02d" % zinfo.date_time[:6]
-            print "%-46s %s %12d" % (zinfo.filename, date, zinfo.file_size)
+            print "%-40s %s %s %12d" % (zinfo.filename, def_type,
+                                                     date, zinfo.file_size)
 
     def testzip(self):
         """Read all the files and check the CRC."""
@@ -1219,8 +1235,12 @@
         self._didModify = True
         zinfo.CRC = crc32(bytes) & 0xffffffff       # CRC-32 checksum
         if zinfo.compress_type == ZIP_DEFLATED:
-            co = zlib.compressobj(zlib.Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION,
-                 zlib.DEFLATED, -15)
+            level_index = (zinfo.flag_bits & 0b110) >> 1
+            level, _ = _deflate_opts[level_index]
+            co = zlib.compressobj(level, zlib.DEFLATED, -15)
+            # The zlib docs say the WBITS value should be an int from 8 to 15,
+            # and that it's the base 2 log of the size of the window buffer.
+            # So how does the above  wbits value of -15 work then?
             bytes = co.compress(bytes) + co.flush()
             zinfo.compress_size = len(bytes)    # Compressed size
         else: