Penguin Modern Classics: Wind, Sand & Stars

In 1926 Antoine de Saint-Exupery (author of the classic 'The Little Prince') began flying for the pioneering airline Latecoere - later known as Aeropostale - opening up the first mail routes across the Sahara and the Andes.

This book is drawn from his experiences. Interweaving stories of encounters with nomadic Arabs and other adventures into a rich autobiographical narrative, it has its climax in the extraordinary story of Saint-Exupery's crash in the Libyan Desert in 1936, and his miraculous survival.