Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Reading List
The 5 books that shaped Antoine de Saint-Exupéry — aviator & author.
Pilot and poet who wrote The Little Prince — the most translated book after the Bible — and disappeared over the Mediterranean.
Influential Books
The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry(1943)
The world's most beloved fable — a pilot stranded in the desert meets a boy from a tiny asteroid. "What is essential is invisible to the eye."
Wind, Sand and Stars
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry(1939)
Saint-Exupéry's memoir of flying mail planes over the Sahara and Andes — adventure as spiritual practice.
Night Flight
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry(1931)
A novella about early airmail pilots flying blind through South American storms — duty, danger, and beauty.
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy(1869)
Saint-Exupéry revered Tolstoy's ability to find meaning in the chaos of war and human connection.
Essays
Michel de Montaigne(1580)
Montaigne's personal, searching essays influenced Saint-Exupéry's own philosophical meditations on flying and friendship.