In July 1944, a French Air Force reconnaissance plane disappeared on a mission to the Alps. Neither the pilot, 44-year-old Antoine de St Exupery, nor the plane were ever traced. The life of de St Exupery, who was born in 1900, spans the most controversial years of French history. An aristocrat who often used his title of Comte, he represented a dying caste; as a prize-winning novelist as well as a front-line pilot he was brought into contact with the most important personalities of the century. But the dominant theme of this biography is the presence of a romantic author among the daredevils of his generation - the reckless young airmen who opened up the world's routes. Few 20th century personalities have inspired so much research as historians and biographers have sought to explain the apparent contradiction between St Exupery's poetic and prophetic writing and his obsession with flying.