Flight to Arras is Saint-ExupÔery's recollection of the final shattering days during World War II when, though the defeat of France was imminent, a pitifully inadequate number of French pilots and their crews continued to risk their lives against the Germans. The action of the book takes place during a single reconnaissance mission over the burning city of Arras. But Saint-ExupÔery transcends the gripping experience of the flight itself to refelect on why men fight and how they feel in the presence of death.