Wind, Sand and Stars is perhaps the most beautifully written adventure, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery who also wrote The Little Prince
It is autobiographical, describing the author’s experiences piloting planes across the Sahara and the Andes in the 1920s-40s, searching for adventure and for something else undefined.
The writing is lyrical, with lines and images that stay with the reader. It was very popular when first published, in 1939. Literary prizes are always difficult to interpret, but it won both the Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française and the U.S. National Book Award for Nonfiction. The 1995 translation by William Rees is based on the original French text. The book includes an account of de Saint-Exupery’s crash in the Libyan desert in 1935, and remarkable survival. The writing remains matter-of-fact about physical danger and risk, but also examines heroism, friendship and the search for meaning in life.
It is an adventure set in an age gone by, and a search for meaning that is utterly relevant today.