Wartime Writings, 1939-1944

This is a fabulous collection of mostly letters written to and by Saint-Exupery during World War II. You really get to see the man in conflict, and how brave someone can truly be.

I'm very much a fan of Saint-Exupéry. To be honest, I've found the Little Prince the least appealing of his works, and Wind, Sand, and Stars very definitely his best. I enjoyed this look behind the scenes, as it were, at his motivations, relations with his friends, and perhaps his less protected writings. He is apparently an inveterate rewriter, but I found his presumably less worked over letters equally appealing, with merits of their own.I gave this only four stars because you should definitely read other books first, most notably Flight to Arras, written during the period covered by this book. But, and I hate to say this, I really did find his words on war, personal security, and what it means to be human to be very relevant after the terrorist attacks on the US. That part comes out more strongly here than in Flight to Arras.