DÉFENSE ZONE
Pilote de guerre (Flight to Arras, 1942), by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, recounts a single mission — a sacrificed reconnaissance flight over Arras, at the heart of the debacle of May 1940 — and draws from it one of the finest meditations ever written on the meaning of a fight lost in advance.
What is the book about?
On 23 May 1940, Saint-Exupéry’s crew, from reconnaissance group 2/33, received an almost suicidal mission over Arras, in a sky saturated with German fighters and anti-aircraft fire. The account alternates between the flight — the cold, the fear, the shells — and reflection: what is the point of dying for a lost battle? Saint-Exupéry’s answer — you do not fight because you are going to win, but because you belong — founds an ethic of sacrifice that speaks to every soldier.
What is its context?
First published in the United States in 1942, where it helped turn American opinion in favour of Fighting France, the book was banned by Vichy and the occupying forces. Together with Marc Bloch’s L’Étrange Défaite (Strange Defeat), it forms the essential diptych on 1940: Bloch explains why France collapsed, Saint-Exupéry why men went on fighting all the same.
Why read it?
For the beauty of the text — and for what it says about the profession of arms, yesterday as today: a sense of duty when everything is faltering, the brotherhood of the crew, responsibility. Go further with Écrits de guerre 1939-1944 (Wartime writings 1939–1944) and Vol de nuit (Night Flight), also available in the bookshop.
Who was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry?
Born in Lyon in 1900, a pilot for the Aéropostale — the epic that inspired Courrier Sud (Southern Mail), Vol de nuit and Terre des hommes (Wind, Sand and Stars) —, and a writer celebrated worldwide, Saint-Exupéry returned to combat in 1943 despite his age and his injuries, flying the P-38 Lightning. He disappeared on a reconnaissance mission on 31 July 1944 over the Mediterranean — his wreck was not identified until 2004. Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince), written in exile in America, made him the most widely read French author in the world.
Where to order the book?
The book Pilote de guerre is available in the Défense Zone bookshop, along with our other books on military aviation.
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