Flight to Arras

Based on Saint-Exupéry's own service as a reconnaissance pilot, this book describes a single dangerous mission over the town of Arras during the German invasion of France in 1940. As his crew flies through heavy anti-aircraft fire, he reflects on the collapse of the French army, the suffering of refugees and the meaning of sacrifice. The narrative moves between sharp, physical detail and larger thoughts about civilisation, community and responsibility. Written in exile and published in 1942, it is both a war memoir and a quiet moral reflection.