
Flight to Arras is a memoir recounting the author's role in the French Air Force as pilot of a reconnaissance plane during the Battle of France in 1940. The book condenses months of his flights into a single terrifying mission over the town of Arras. At the start of the war there were only fifty reconnaissance crews, of which twenty-three were in his unit. Within the first few days of the German invasion of France in May 1940, seventeen of the crews were sacrificed recklessly, he writes "like glasses of water thrown onto a forest fire". Saint-Exupéry survived the French defeat but refused to join the Royal Air Force over political differences with de Gaulle. In July 1944, "risking flesh to prove good faith", he failed to return from a recon mission over France.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900—31 July 1944) was a French writer and aviator. He is best remembered for his novella *The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince)*, and for his books about aviation adventures, including Night Flight and Wind, Sand and Stars. He was a successful commercial pilot before World War II, joining the Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) on the outbreak of war, flying reconnaissance missions until the armistice with Germany. Following a spell of writing in the United States, he joined the Free French Forces. He disappeared on a reconnaissance flight over the Mediterranean in July 1944. ([Source][1]) [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exupéry

Flight to Arras is a memoir recounting the author's role in the French Air Force as pilot of a reconnaissance plane during the Battle of France in 1940. The book condenses months of his flights into a single terrifying mission over the town of Arras. At the start of the war there were only fifty reconnaissance crews, of which twenty-three were in his unit. Within the first few days of the German invasion of France in May 1940, seventeen of the crews were sacrificed recklessly, he writes "like glasses of water thrown onto a forest fire". Saint-Exupéry survived the French defeat but refused to join the Royal Air Force over political differences with de Gaulle. In July 1944, "risking flesh to prove good faith", he failed to return from a recon mission over France.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900—31 July 1944) was a French writer and aviator. He is best remembered for his novella *The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince)*, and for his books about aviation adventures, including Night Flight and Wind, Sand and Stars. He was a successful commercial pilot before World War II, joining the Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) on the outbreak of war, flying reconnaissance missions until the armistice with Germany. Following a spell of writing in the United States, he joined the Free French Forces. He disappeared on a reconnaissance flight over the Mediterranean in July 1944. ([Source][1]) [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exupéry