Saint-Exupéry, The Last Secret
Publisher
:
Éditions du Rocher
Parution date
:
2008
EAN
:
9782268063621
Description
A sweeping narrative history of the events leading to Saint-Exupéry’s final mission.
One of the enduring mysteries of aviation and literature seems to have been solved: officials have confirmed that the twisted wreckage of a Lockheed Lightning P-38 found on the Mediterranean seabed belonged to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, pioneer pilot, war hero, and one of the world's best-loved authors. Saint-Exupéry, L'ultime secret tells of the events leading to Saint-Exupéry’s final flight, how this routine reconnaissance mission turned deadly, and the search for the debris of the plane and the identity of the aviator who shot him down.
For more than half a century, various attempts have been made to explain the disappearance of "Saint-Ex." In 1998, an identity bracelet engraved with the name of Saint-Exupéry and that of his first American publishers, Reynal & Hitchcock, was discovered in a fisherman's net off the coast of Marseille. Inspired by the find, Luc Vanrell, a local deep-sea diver, began searching for the remains of the writer's aircraft; in 2000 he discovered pieces of Saint-Exupéry's plane lying under 80 meters of water. Near the plane he also found wreckage from a German Messerschmitt. There were no official records of German action in the area. Had the author crashed, been shot down, or decided to commit suicide? The more Vanrell researched the last days of Saint-Exupéry’s life, the more he realized that a conspiracy of silence has shrouded his death. This book is the record of Vanrell’s quest for what really happened.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry became one of the world’s most beloved authors with The Little Prince. He is still admired by pilots as the greatest aviation author with works such as Night Flight, Southern Mail, Wind, Sand and Stars, and other classics.
Author
Alain Decaux is one of France’s most famous historians. He was elected to the Académie Française in 1979.
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