'Flight to Arras' numbers among the best books I've read this year.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (colloquially known as Saint-Ex), author of the astonishingly beautiful 'Wind, Sand and Stars' and 'Night Flight,' was an aviator and writer. He began his career in the French Air Force in the 1920s, went on to become a mail pilot in both the Sahara and the Andes, flew reconnaissance planes back in France during the German invasion of France in 1940, he escaped the Nazis. After 27 months of writing and speaking in North America, he returned to North Africa with an American military convoy. Once there, he flew a modified P-38 with the Free French Air Force in support of operations in and around the Mediterranean (overage for flight duties at the time, he petitioned for a waiver all the way to General Eisenhower). He met his end in 1944, disappearing while piloting a recon flight in preparation for the invasion of southern France. Saint-Ex was a legendary pilot, a respected and famous writer, and a hell of a guy.

Saint-Ex published 'Flight to Arras' in 1942, during his sojourn in the U.S. The novel reads like the memoir of one pilot's reconnaissance mission during the Nazi invasion of France, and it has all the action one might expect from a wartime novel. But that isn't what makes it special. What makes it special is Saint-Ex's beautiful prose (translated by Lewis Galantière) and his ruminations on duty, combat, France, fellowship, and the natures both of Man and Mankind. This is the kind of book that makes the reader feel s/he is in communion with its author, sharing his most deeply felt external and internal observations. For those of us fortunate enough to fly for a living, it's also the kind of book that makes us feel like we're right there in the cockpit with him, every detail impulse true to the intellectual and emotional cast of the professional aviator.

On a related note, this particular edition reminded me why I love print media. I checked this out on an interlibrary loan through my local public library, and was astounded to find that it was a first edition. The paper, with its uneven edging, was thick and luxurious to the touch. The volume smelled like an old book. I got the sense of a treasure, waiting patiently for me for nearly eighty years. When I opened it, Saint-Ex lived again through the communion of author and reader, transcending life and death to form the timeless intellectual and emotional bond that shines as the highest aspiration of art.

This isn't just a beautiful book. It's the kind of book that reminds us why we invented writing in the first place. It's a treasure.

Recommended for: aviators and aviation enthusiasts, WWII enthusiasts, avid readers of all sorts.