When he vanished in 1944-disappearing into thin air as the Little Prince does in his best-loved work-Antoine de Saint-Exupry was already a legend. His name is synonymous with the golden age of aviation, when pilots flew through desert sandstorms in open cockpits and without instruments, fired at by rebellious tribes. The author of many of the classics of aviation literature, he also wrote the children's classic The Little Prince, the most widely translated book in the French language. Stacy Schiff, with an infectious fascination for her subject, has brought Saint-Exupry to life in this definitive, humane, and hugely entertaining biography.