SAINT-EXUPÉRY, Antoine de. War Pilot. - Lot 285

SAINT-EXUPÉRY, Antoine de. War Pilot. New York, Editions de la Maison française, 1942. In-12, paperback, two-tone printed cover. 253 pp. Spine slightly sun-faded, minor soiling along the edges of the cover. First edition on plain paper, published in February 1942 in New York, at the same time as its English translation. The book was published in France in late 1942 by Gallimard and was quickly banned by the Vichy regime, which saw it as an implicit call to arms. In this autobiographical account, Saint-Exupéry recounts a perilous aerial mission during the debacle of May 1940. He describes the tension of combat and reflects on the meaning of sacrifice and solidarity in the face of defeat. A fine copy.