Very evocative, but watch the translation..., 03 Dec 2007
I assume Saint-Exupery wrote this in French and that explains the trouble I had starting this book.

10 pages in I seriously considered giving up on this book, so convoluted, flowery and stodgy was the prose, something I have done with less than 5 books ever.

That I didn't and give the book 4 stars is testament to chapter two and beyond, but be aware that you might have to persevere to get to the greatness of this book.

This MIGHT be down to translation into English and some versions may be easier to read than others.

The episode of the crash in the desert is a page turning thriller, though, and his experiences in Spain during the civil war are a diverting counterpoint to the rest of the book.

A great read, if you can get into it.

Just get it now stop messing around :), 17 Jan 2006
With this book you will take away more than the sum of its words. I think I will read this again and again and hopefully pass it on to at least one person.

Fabulous, 06 Oct 2005
Quite short, but written so well it more than makes up for quantity. Hugely recomended.

Crash landing in the Sahara desert...profound insight..., 18 Apr 2001
I know a man who sees beauty in everything around him - the expression on people's faces, the way the wind blows things round, in smells and everywhere else. For him too, "Wind, Sand and Stars" has been a guide his whole life.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was one of the pioneers of flying aeroplanes, first with Aeropostale between France and Northern Africa, and later trans-Atlantic flights from South America. This book is a collection of wonderful tales and deep insights from that life.

In his time, aeroplane engines were far from reliable, and his experiences of crash landing in the Sahara desert, or the Chilean Andes, are astounding. Face to face with life and death, his mind has given birth to the most beautiful paragraphs of enlightened prose I have read.

[I am uncomfortable with the translation of William Rees. Maybe it is because I had read first an earlier translation by Lewis Galantiere (now unavailable). Galantiere had convinced de Saint-Exupery to include passages in the English version that had been left out of the French, and a few other changes. Maybe it is merely "familiarity breeds contempt", but I feel the Rees translation to be inferior. ]{****NOTE to AMAZON: this paragraph may be unsuitable as it refers to another edition.}

This book is my bible. The tenderness and beauty of his observations and view of what is essential is special. Fiercely exciting descriptive passages are blended perfectly with reflections and wisdom. This is my No.1 book of all time.

Aviator, Poet & Philosopher, 22 Apr 1998
Saint-Exupery disappeared in North Africa in 1943 while flying reconnaissance flights for the American forces. After reading Wind, Sand and Stars one has a sense that this writer/philosopher, who is probably most well known for his fable The Little Prince, was well prepared for his life to end in this way.

In the opening lines of the original French version Saint-Exupery writes:
"The earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books.
Because it resists us. Man discovers himself when he measures
himself against the obstacle"

Wind, Sand and Stars is intensely autobiographical as it tells us of this man's adventures from his beginnings as a pilot with the air mail service over France, Spain and North Africa before World War I, through to his musings as an observer of the Spanish Civil War. But far more than an adventurer, Saint-Exupery writes like a poet and has the heart of a philosopher. This wonderful book (a credit to the translator from the original French) has incredibly rich descriptive passages in which he lays out for the reader the details observed in the natural world and the response that these evoke in his mind, heart and soul.

In one section of the book (which a reader familiar with The Little Prince cannot help but conclude was inspirational for that work) Saint-Exupery describes at length his near-death experience after crashing in the Libyan desert, and wandering for days without water or hope:
"Apart from your suffering, I have no regrets. All in all, it has been
a good life. If I got free of this I should start right in again. A man
cannot live a decent life in cities, and I need to feel myself live. I
am not thinking of aviation. The aeroplane is a means, not an end.
One doesn't risk one's life for a plane any more than a farmer ploughs
for the sake of the plough. But the aeroplane is a means of getting
away from towns and their book-keeping and coming to grips with
reality."

Wind, Sand and Stars is not an easy read. But for those with patience and an interest (in a phrase from The Little Prince) in "listening with the heart", here is an insight to one man's struggle to understand and articulate the sacredness and greatness of human life.

Very evocative, but watch the translation..., 03 Dec 2007
I assume Saint-Exupery wrote this in French and that explains the trouble I had starting this book.

10 pages in I seriously considered giving up on this book, so convoluted, flowery and stodgy was the prose, something I have done with less than 5 books ever.

That I didn't and give the book 4 stars is testament to chapter two and beyond, but be aware that you might have to persevere to get to the greatness of this book.

This MIGHT be down to translation into English and some versions may be easier to read than others.

The episode of the crash in the desert is a page turning thriller, though, and his experiences in Spain during the civil war are a diverting counterpoint to the rest of the book.

A great read, if you can get into it.

Just get it now stop messing around :), 17 Jan 2006
With this book you will take away more than the sum of its words. I think I will read this again and again and hopefully pass it on to at least one person.

Fabulous, 06 Oct 2005
Quite short, but written so well it more than makes up for quantity. Hugely recomended.

Crash landing in the Sahara desert...profound insight..., 18 Apr 2001
I know a man who sees beauty in everything around him - the expression on people's faces, the way the wind blows things round, in smells and everywhere else. For him too, "Wind, Sand and Stars" has been a guide his whole life.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was one of the pioneers of flying aeroplanes, first with Aeropostale between France and Northern Africa, and later trans-Atlantic flights from South America. This book is a collection of wonderful tales and deep insights from that life.

In his time, aeroplane engines were far from reliable, and his experiences of crash landing in the Sahara desert, or the Chilean Andes, are astounding. Face to face with life and death, his mind has given birth to the most beautiful paragraphs of enlightened prose I have read.

[I am uncomfortable with the translation of William Rees. Maybe it is because I had read first an earlier translation by Lewis Galantiere (now unavailable). Galantiere had convinced de Saint-Exupery to include passages in the English version that had been left out of the French, and a few other changes. Maybe it is merely "familiarity breeds contempt", but I feel the Rees translation to be inferior. ]{****NOTE to AMAZON: this paragraph may be unsuitable as it refers to another edition.}

This book is my bible. The tenderness and beauty of his observations and view of what is essential is special. Fiercely exciting descriptive passages are blended perfectly with reflections and wisdom. This is my No.1 book of all time.

Aviator, Poet & Philosopher, 22 Apr 1998
Saint-Exupery disappeared in North Africa in 1943 while flying reconnaissance flights for the American forces. After reading Wind, Sand and Stars one has a sense that this writer/philosopher, who is probably most well known for his fable The Little Prince, was well prepared for his life to end in this way.

In the opening lines of the original French version Saint-Exupery writes:
"The earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books.
Because it resists us. Man discovers himself when he measures
himself against the obstacle"

Wind, Sand and Stars is intensely autobiographical as it tells us of this man's adventures from his beginnings as a pilot with the air mail service over France, Spain and North Africa before World War I, through to his musings as an observer of the Spanish Civil War. But far more than an adventurer, Saint-Exupery writes like a poet and has the heart of a philosopher. This wonderful book (a credit to the translator from the original French) has incredibly rich descriptive passages in which he lays out for the reader the details observed in the natural world and the response that these evoke in his mind, heart and soul.

In one section of the book (which a reader familiar with The Little Prince cannot help but conclude was inspirational for that work) Saint-Exupery describes at length his near-death experience after crashing in the Libyan desert, and wandering for days without water or hope:
"Apart from your suffering, I have no regrets. All in all, it has been
a good life. If I got free of this I should start right in again. A man
cannot live a decent life in cities, and I need to feel myself live. I
am not thinking of aviation. The aeroplane is a means, not an end.
One doesn't risk one's life for a plane any more than a farmer ploughs
for the sake of the plough. But the aeroplane is a means of getting
away from towns and their book-keeping and coming to grips with
reality."

Wind, Sand and Stars is not an easy read. But for those with patience and an interest (in a phrase from The Little Prince) in "listening with the heart", here is an insight to one man's struggle to understand and articulate the sacredness and greatness of human life.

Should be titled: "If it had wings, I flew it"!, 02 Feb 2008
If you have the slightest interest in aviation since the 1930's this book will leave you open mouthed in awe at the incredible experiences of the author. No-one would have the audacity to write this as fiction for fear of it being branded "too far fetched!". If being taken for a flight by Ernst Udet before WW2 and watching Hanna Reitsch fly one of the first helicopters inside the Olympic stadium isn't enough, the author goes on to fly every major UK, US, German, Italian, Russian and Japanese aircraft of world war two before being at the very forefront of the jet age and conquering of the "Sound Barrier"....and all whilst being in our Navy! Written from his personal diaries, the style is humble and events put down to good fortune when I am sure they are really due to his skill.
The book can be frustratingly thin on subjects that deserve a book of their own (how many other allied pilots flew a Me163 rocket plane under power I wonder...) and it flits back and forth in time a little confusingly but these are minor quibbles. The book is heavy due to the high quality paper needed to support the small print size to cram it all in and if more detail were given it would extend to several volumes.
Just read it and revel as iconic aircraft and characters of the 40's ad 50's are met and summarized before moving onto the next encounter.
In a time when the term "hero" has become confused with "celebrity", here folks, is the real thing...

A Unique Memoir, 16 Apr 2007
Certainly one for the propeller heads, but a truly unique and fascinating life story. Captain Brown was a consummate pilot, seeing service in the Royal Navy towards the end of WW2, he flew a colossal number of aircraft types setting a record that can never be broken whilst cheating death countless times, and setting many 'firsts' along the way. This book could have been twenty times thicker, but he simply breezes past stories that would have constituted a whole book for some people, though it is clear that writing is not his strength or interest.

almost but not quite there 5 stars, 27 Mar 2007
I bought this book after reading the reviews, and braced myself for an excellent read.
If you are a total aeroplane nut, then this is the book for you.
For me, the book doesn't quite deliver. The range of aircraft listed in the book is truly amazing. I found some of the chapters were "turned up, had aircraft explained to me, took off, jolly japes in the air, landed, and went home". Given the subject matter, and Eric's truly phenomenal contribution to 20th century flight, it just seemed lacking somewhere.


One of the most interesting and intriguing aviation I have read, 26 Jan 2007
I have little to add to the previous reviewer who has said all that I would have written. This is one of the most understated books I have read about a single person's exploits in the aviation world. For me every paragraph on every page could have (and should have) been expanded to provide greater detail to the already mind-blowing expolits of the author.
One day in his every day life would almost fit the 'wish list' of many aspiring aviators.

Can't I give it six stars...?, 02 Oct 2006
No test pilot in history has flown so many types of aircraft as Commander Brown and certainly no other test pilot writes as clearly and interestingly as he does. "Wings on my Sleeve" was first published in 1961 in a much shorter form. In this new edition he answers so many questions that come to mind when reading his other books - notably "Wings of the Navy" and "Wings of the Luftwaffe" - and sets these books into a much wider context of his amazing life
This is the story of his life from his first flight, with the legendary German WW1 ace and later stunt pilot and finally Director of Air Armaments in Goering's Luftwaffe, Ernst Udet, through his experiences in Nazi Germany and his encounter with the SS when they came to tell him that the two counties were at war and on through a life that included convoy escort duties and hair-raising encounters with FW Kuriers before his outstanding deck landing skills led to his being appointed to RAE Farnborough.
He then chronicles the hectic life of a war time test pilot as he flew practically every type of British and US military aircraft and evaluated captured enemy machines to develop combat tactics.
Because of his fluent German, the last days of the war found him despatched to Germany to assemble and test German aircraft. Here he accepted the surrender of a major Luftwaffe base when he landed in the mistaken assumption that it had already been captured by the allies. During this time he met and talked to Goering and Hanna Reitsch as well as every major German aircraft figure of the era.
Post war the pace did not diminish: taking delivery of the first US helicopter to be allocated to the UK, he asked about training to fly it and was handed a thick book with the words, "Here's your instructor!" High speed flights investigating the approach to Mach One were interspersed with development on the Avro Tudor and Bristol Brabazon as well as a huge range of varyingly successful (and otherwise) experimental and new military and civil aircraft.
Commander Brown's close involvement in the development of so many British and US aircraft, allied with his own evaluative and literary skills make this a book to be cherished and re-read time and again: in fact, just like his previous books!
My only complaint is that, like all good things, it leaves one wanting more of the same.
PS: Commander Brown has written far too few books! One I would love for him to write would be "Wings of the Post War Navy". Any chance, please?

Very evocative, but watch the translation..., 03 Dec 2007
I assume Saint-Exupery wrote this in French and that explains the trouble I had starting this book.

10 pages in I seriously considered giving up on this book, so convoluted, flowery and stodgy was the prose, something I have done with less than 5 books ever.

That I didn't and give the book 4 stars is testament to chapter two and beyond, but be aware that you might have to persevere to get to the greatness of this book.

This MIGHT be down to translation into English and some versions may be easier to read than others.

The episode of the crash in the desert is a page turning thriller, though, and his experiences in Spain during the civil war are a diverting counterpoint to the rest of the book.

A great read, if you can get into it.

Just get it now stop messing around :), 17 Jan 2006
With this book you will take away more than the sum of its words. I think I will read this again and again and hopefully pass it on to at least one person.

Fabulous, 06 Oct 2005
Quite short, but written so well it more than makes up for quantity. Hugely recomended.

Crash landing in the Sahara desert...profound insight..., 18 Apr 2001
I know a man who sees beauty in everything around him - the expression on people's faces, the way the wind blows things round, in smells and everywhere else. For him too, "Wind, Sand and Stars" has been a guide his whole life.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was one of the pioneers of flying aeroplanes, first with Aeropostale between France and Northern Africa, and later trans-Atlantic flights from South America. This book is a collection of wonderful tales and deep insights from that life.

In his time, aeroplane engines were far from reliable, and his experiences of crash landing in the Sahara desert, or the Chilean Andes, are astounding. Face to face with life and death, his mind has given birth to the most beautiful paragraphs of enlightened prose I have read.

[I am uncomfortable with the translation of William Rees. Maybe it is because I had read first an earlier translation by Lewis Galantiere (now unavailable). Galantiere had convinced de Saint-Exupery to include passages in the English version that had been left out of the French, and a few other changes. Maybe it is merely "familiarity breeds contempt", but I feel the Rees translation to be inferior. ]{****NOTE to AMAZON: this paragraph may be unsuitable as it refers to another edition.}

This book is my bible. The tenderness and beauty of his observations and view of what is essential is special. Fiercely exciting descriptive passages are blended perfectly with reflections and wisdom. This is my No.1 book of all time.

Aviator, Poet & Philosopher, 22 Apr 1998
Saint-Exupery disappeared in North Africa in 1943 while flying reconnaissance flights for the American forces. After reading Wind, Sand and Stars one has a sense that this writer/philosopher, who is probably most well known for his fable The Little Prince, was well prepared for his life to end in this way.

In the opening lines of the original French version Saint-Exupery writes:
"The earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books.
Because it resists us. Man discovers himself when he measures
himself against the obstacle"

Wind, Sand and Stars is intensely autobiographical as it tells us of this man's adventures from his beginnings as a pilot with the air mail service over France, Spain and North Africa before World War I, through to his musings as an observer of the Spanish Civil War. But far more than an adventurer, Saint-Exupery writes like a poet and has the heart of a philosopher. This wonderful book (a credit to the translator from the original French) has incredibly rich descriptive passages in which he lays out for the reader the details observed in the natural world and the response that these evoke in his mind, heart and soul.

In one section of the book (which a reader familiar with The Little Prince cannot help but conclude was inspirational for that work) Saint-Exupery describes at length his near-death experience after crashing in the Libyan desert, and wandering for days without water or hope:
"Apart from your suffering, I have no regrets. All in all, it has been
a good life. If I got free of this I should start right in again. A man
cannot live a decent life in cities, and I need to feel myself live. I
am not thinking of aviation. The aeroplane is a means, not an end.
One doesn't risk one's life for a plane any more than a farmer ploughs
for the sake of the plough. But the aeroplane is a means of getting
away from towns and their book-keeping and coming to grips with
reality."

Wind, Sand and Stars is not an easy read. But for those with patience and an interest (in a phrase from The Little Prince) in "listening with the heart", here is an insight to one man's struggle to understand and articulate the sacredness and greatness of human life.

Should be titled: "If it had wings, I flew it"!, 02 Feb 2008
If you have the slightest interest in aviation since the 1930's this book will leave you open mouthed in awe at the incredible experiences of the author. No-one would have the audacity to write this as fiction for fear of it being branded "too far fetched!". If being taken for a flight by Ernst Udet before WW2 and watching Hanna Reitsch fly one of the first helicopters inside the Olympic stadium isn't enough, the author goes on to fly every major UK, US, German, Italian, Russian and Japanese aircraft of world war two before being at the very forefront of the jet age and conquering of the "Sound Barrier"....and all whilst being in our Navy! Written from his personal diaries, the style is humble and events put down to good fortune when I am sure they are really due to his skill.
The book can be frustratingly thin on subjects that deserve a book of their own (how many other allied pilots flew a Me163 rocket plane under power I wonder...) and it flits back and forth in time a little confusingly but these are minor quibbles. The book is heavy due to the high quality paper needed to support the small print size to cram it all in and if more detail were given it would extend to several volumes.
Just read it and revel as iconic aircraft and characters of the 40's ad 50's are met and summarized before moving onto the next encounter.
In a time when the term "hero" has become confused with "celebrity", here folks, is the real thing...

A Unique Memoir, 16 Apr 2007
Certainly one for the propeller heads, but a truly unique and fascinating life story. Captain Brown was a consummate pilot, seeing service in the Royal Navy towards the end of WW2, he flew a colossal number of aircraft types setting a record that can never be broken whilst cheating death countless times, and setting many 'firsts' along the way. This book could have been twenty times thicker, but he simply breezes past stories that would have constituted a whole book for some people, though it is clear that writing is not his strength or interest.

almost but not quite there 5 stars, 27 Mar 2007
I bought this book after reading the reviews, and braced myself for an excellent read.
If you are a total aeroplane nut, then this is the book for you.
For me, the book doesn't quite deliver. The range of aircraft listed in the book is truly amazing. I found some of the chapters were "turned up, had aircraft explained to me, took off, jolly japes in the air, landed, and went home". Given the subject matter, and Eric's truly phenomenal contribution to 20th century flight, it just seemed lacking somewhere.


One of the most interesting and intriguing aviation I have read, 26 Jan 2007
I have little to add to the previous reviewer who has said all that I would have written. This is one of the most understated books I have read about a single person's exploits in the aviation world. For me every paragraph on every page could have (and should have) been expanded to provide greater detail to the already mind-blowing expolits of the author.
One day in his every day life would almost fit the 'wish list' of many aspiring aviators.

Can't I give it six stars...?, 02 Oct 2006
No test pilot in history has flown so many types of aircraft as Commander Brown and certainly no other test pilot writes as clearly and interestingly as he does. "Wings on my Sleeve" was first published in 1961 in a much shorter form. In this new edition he answers so many questions that come to mind when reading his other books - notably "Wings of the Navy" and "Wings of the Luftwaffe" - and sets these books into a much wider context of his amazing life
This is the story of his life from his first flight, with the legendary German WW1 ace and later stunt pilot and finally Director of Air Armaments in Goering's Luftwaffe, Ernst Udet, through his experiences in Nazi Germany and his encounter with the SS when they came to tell him that the two counties were at war and on through a life that included convoy escort duties and hair-raising encounters with FW Kuriers before his outstanding deck landing skills led to his being appointed to RAE Farnborough.
He then chronicles the hectic life of a war time test pilot as he flew practically every type of British and US military aircraft and evaluated captured enemy machines to develop combat tactics.
Because of his fluent German, the last days of the war found him despatched to Germany to assemble and test German aircraft. Here he accepted the surrender of a major Luftwaffe base when he landed in the mistaken assumption that it had already been captured by the allies. During this time he met and talked to Goering and Hanna Reitsch as well as every major German aircraft figure of the era.
Post war the pace did not diminish: taking delivery of the first US helicopter to be allocated to the UK, he asked about training to fly it and was handed a thick book with the words, "Here's your instructor!" High speed flights investigating the approach to Mach One were interspersed with development on the Avro Tudor and Bristol Brabazon as well as a huge range of varyingly successful (and otherwise) experimental and new military and civil aircraft.
Commander Brown's close involvement in the development of so many British and US aircraft, allied with his own evaluative and literary skills make this a book to be cherished and re-read time and again: in fact, just like his previous books!
My only complaint is that, like all good things, it leaves one wanting more of the same.
PS: Commander Brown has written far too few books! One I would love for him to write would be "Wings of the Post War Navy". Any chance, please?

Good but only for boffins, 11 Jun 2006
Whist the information contained in the book is obviously sound I found it far too indulgent in the technical areas. It reminded me of science teachers at school who were so wrapped up in the detail they were unable to convey basic (and not overly complex) theories to the layman.

If you found mathematics and physics a doddle then this book will suit you fine. However, for others you may still find yourself searching the net for far clearer and succint definitions and explanations of normal principals such as how a wing creates lift.

Having read this book I have, if anything, ended up more confused about flying than I was before. However, perhaps when my lessons begin I am able to apply some of this exhaustive theory, I may find it more beneficial.

However, in summary, whilst it offers a wealth of technical information, it is often poorly explained and summarised, and seems to presume that the reader will understand the wealth of flying acronyms mentioned perhaps once in passing in previous chapters.

Microlight handbook, 21 Dec 2002
An absolute must for the new wannabe microlight pilot.After searching around, this book can only be described as the Microlight pilots bible.Very easy to understand and full of pictures and diagrams.Money well spent.

The Definitive book on Microlighting theory, 19 Sep 2001
Brian has written the definitive book covering all aspects of microlighting theory. It is a must for anyone intending to obtain a PPL Microlighting license. Each section is clearly written and backed up with excellent line drawings. When I obtained my license I found the book invaluable, and even now I still go back to it from time to time to refresh my memory. This is a must-have for everyone flying, or intending to fly, microlights

A must have for UK microlight students, 17 Jun 2000
This is one book that you will be advised by most instructors to get. It covers everything you need though not in a particularly easy to grasp way I am afraid. Perhaps this should make the aspiring student realise that learning to fly is not going to be as easy as may have been suspected. You may buy other books covering the same subjects but this should be top of your shopping list.

Highly detailed but not an easy read - Text Book Stuff, 27 Feb 2000
This really is a text book, a manual as the title suggests. For those aspiring microlight pilots like myself the book is a wealth of information and seems to provide all of the material you need for the theoretical part of pilot training. My real gripe with the book is that it makes a not too difficult subject seem very difficult. This is because of the writing style which seems to come straight out of a military manual and thus fails to differentiate common sense from science. I would recommend the book to the serious student but be prepared to 'work' the book to get the information you need.

Very evocative, but watch the translation..., 03 Dec 2007
I assume Saint-Exupery wrote this in French and that explains the trouble I had starting this book.

10 pages in I seriously considered giving up on this book, so convoluted, flowery and stodgy was the prose, something I have done with less than 5 books ever.

That I didn't and give the book 4 stars is testament to chapter two and beyond, but be aware that you might have to persevere to get to the greatness of this book.

This MIGHT be down to translation into English and some versions may be easier to read than others.

The episode of the crash in the desert is a page turning thriller, though, and his experiences in Spain during the civil war are a diverting counterpoint to the rest of the book.

A great read, if you can get into it.

Just get it now stop messing around :), 17 Jan 2006
With this book you will take away more than the sum of its words. I think I will read this again and again and hopefully pass it on to at least one person.

Fabulous, 06 Oct 2005
Quite short, but written so well it more than makes up for quantity. Hugely recomended.

Crash landing in the Sahara desert...profound insight..., 18 Apr 2001
I know a man who sees beauty in everything around him - the expression on people's faces, the way the wind blows things round, in smells and everywhere else. For him too, "Wind, Sand and Stars" has been a guide his whole life.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was one of the pioneers of flying aeroplanes, first with Aeropostale between France and Northern Africa, and later trans-Atlantic flights from South America. This book is a collection of wonderful tales and deep insights from that life.

In his time, aeroplane engines were far from reliable, and his experiences of crash landing in the Sahara desert, or the Chilean Andes, are astounding. Face to face with life and death, his mind has given birth to the most beautiful paragraphs of enlightened prose I have read.

[I am uncomfortable with the translation of William Rees. Maybe it is because I had read first an earlier translation by Lewis Galantiere (now unavailable). Galantiere had convinced de Saint-Exupery to include passages in the English version that had been left out of the French, and a few other changes. Maybe it is merely "familiarity breeds contempt", but I feel the Rees translation to be inferior. ]{****NOTE to AMAZON: this paragraph may be unsuitable as it refers to another edition.}

This book is my bible. The tenderness and beauty of his observations and view of what is essential is special. Fiercely exciting descriptive passages are blended perfectly with reflections and wisdom. This is my No.1 book of all time.

Aviator, Poet & Philosopher, 22 Apr 1998
Saint-Exupery disappeared in North Africa in 1943 while flying reconnaissance flights for the American forces. After reading Wind, Sand and Stars one has a sense that this writer/philosopher, who is probably most well known for his fable The Little Prince, was well prepared for his life to end in this way.

In the opening lines of the original French version Saint-Exupery writes:
"The earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books.
Because it resists us. Man discovers himself when he measures
himself against the obstacle"

Wind, Sand and Stars is intensely autobiographical as it tells us of this man's adventures from his beginnings as a pilot with the air mail service over France, Spain and North Africa before World War I, through to his musings as an observer of the Spanish Civil War. But far more than an adventurer, Saint-Exupery writes like a poet and has the heart of a philosopher. This wonderful book (a credit to the translator from the original French) has incredibly rich descriptive passages in which he lays out for the reader the details observed in the natural world and the response that these evoke in his mind, heart and soul.

In one section of the book (which a reader familiar with The Little Prince cannot help but conclude was inspirational for that work) Saint-Exupery describes at length his near-death experience after crashing in the Libyan desert, and wandering for days without water or hope:
"Apart from your suffering, I have no regrets. All in all, it has been
a good life. If I got free of this I should start right in again. A man
cannot live a decent life in cities, and I need to feel myself live. I
am not thinking of aviation. The aeroplane is a means, not an end.
One doesn't risk one's life for a plane any more than a farmer ploughs
for the sake of the plough. But the aeroplane is a means of getting
away from towns and their book-keeping and coming to grips with
reality."

Wind, Sand and Stars is not an easy read. But for those with patience and an interest (in a phrase from The Little Prince) in "listening with the heart", here is an insight to one man's struggle to understand and articulate the sacredness and greatness of human life.

Should be titled: "If it had wings, I flew it"!, 02 Feb 2008
If you have the slightest interest in aviation since the 1930's this book will leave you open mouthed in awe at the incredible experiences of the author. No-one would have the audacity to write this as fiction for fear of it being branded "too far fetched!". If being taken for a flight by Ernst Udet before WW2 and watching Hanna Reitsch fly one of the first helicopters inside the Olympic stadium isn't enough, the author goes on to fly every major UK, US, German, Italian, Russian and Japanese aircraft of world war two before being at the very forefront of the jet age and conquering of the "Sound Barrier"....and all whilst being in our Navy! Written from his personal diaries, the style is humble and events put down to good fortune when I am sure they are really due to his skill.
The book can be frustratingly thin on subjects that deserve a book of their own (how many other allied pilots flew a Me163 rocket plane under power I wonder...) and it flits back and forth in time a little confusingly but these are minor quibbles. The book is heavy due to the high quality paper needed to support the small print size to cram it all in and if more detail were given it would extend to several volumes.
Just read it and revel as iconic aircraft and characters of the 40's ad 50's are met and summarized before moving onto the next encounter.
In a time when the term "hero" has become confused with "celebrity", here folks, is the real thing...

A Unique Memoir, 16 Apr 2007
Certainly one for the propeller heads, but a truly unique and fascinating life story. Captain Brown was a consummate pilot, seeing service in the Royal Navy towards the end of WW2, he flew a colossal number of aircraft types setting a record that can never be broken whilst cheating death countless times, and setting many 'firsts' along the way. This book could have been twenty times thicker, but he simply breezes past stories that would have constituted a whole book for some people, though it is clear that writing is not his strength or interest.

almost but not quite there 5 stars, 27 Mar 2007
I bought this book after reading the reviews, and braced myself for an excellent read.
If you are a total aeroplane nut, then this is the book for you.
For me, the book doesn't quite deliver. The range of aircraft listed in the book is truly amazing. I found some of the chapters were "turned up, had aircraft explained to me, took off, jolly japes in the air, landed, and went home". Given the subject matter, and Eric's truly phenomenal contribution to 20th century flight, it just seemed lacking somewhere.


One of the most interesting and intriguing aviation I have read, 26 Jan 2007
I have little to add to the previous reviewer who has said all that I would have written. This is one of the most understated books I have read about a single person's exploits in the aviation world. For me every paragraph on every page could have (and should have) been expanded to provide greater detail to the already mind-blowing expolits of the author.
One day in his every day life would almost fit the 'wish list' of many aspiring aviators.

Can't I give it six stars...?, 02 Oct 2006
No test pilot in history has flown so many types of aircraft as Commander Brown and certainly no other test pilot writes as clearly and interestingly as he does. "Wings on my Sleeve" was first published in 1961 in a much shorter form. In this new edition he answers so many questions that come to mind when reading his other books - notably "Wings of the Navy" and "Wings of the Luftwaffe" - and sets these books into a much wider context of his amazing life
This is the story of his life from his first flight, with the legendary German WW1 ace and later stunt pilot and finally Director of Air Armaments in Goering's Luftwaffe, Ernst Udet, through his experiences in Nazi Germany and his encounter with the SS when they came to tell him that the two counties were at war and on through a life that included convoy escort duties and hair-raising encounters with FW Kuriers before his outstanding deck landing skills led to his being appointed to RAE Farnborough.
He then chronicles the hectic life of a war time test pilot as he flew practically every type of British and US military aircraft and evaluated captured enemy machines to develop combat tactics.
Because of his fluent German, the last days of the war found him despatched to Germany to assemble and test German aircraft. Here he accepted the surrender of a major Luftwaffe base when he landed in the mistaken assumption that it had already been captured by the allies. During this time he met and talked to Goering and Hanna Reitsch as well as every major German aircraft figure of the era.
Post war the pace did not diminish: taking delivery of the first US helicopter to be allocated to the UK, he asked about training to fly it and was handed a thick book with the words, "Here's your instructor!" High speed flights investigating the approach to Mach One were interspersed with development on the Avro Tudor and Bristol Brabazon as well as a huge range of varyingly successful (and otherwise) experimental and new military and civil aircraft.
Commander Brown's close involvement in the development of so many British and US aircraft, allied with his own evaluative and literary skills make this a book to be cherished and re-read time and again: in fact, just like his previous books!
My only complaint is that, like all good things, it leaves one wanting more of the same.
PS: Commander Brown has written far too few books! One I would love for him to write would be "Wings of the Post War Navy". Any chance, please?

Good but only for boffins, 11 Jun 2006
Whist the information contained in the book is obviously sound I found it far too indulgent in the technical areas. It reminded me of science teachers at school who were so wrapped up in the detail they were unable to convey basic (and not overly complex) theories to the layman.

If you found mathematics and physics a doddle then this book will suit you fine. However, for others you may still find yourself searching the net for far clearer and succint definitions and explanations of normal principals such as how a wing creates lift.

Having read this book I have, if anything, ended up more confused about flying than I was before. However, perhaps when my lessons begin I am able to apply some of this exhaustive theory, I may find it more beneficial.

However, in summary, whilst it offers a wealth of technical information, it is often poorly explained and summarised, and seems to presume that the reader will understand the wealth of flying acronyms mentioned perhaps once in passing in previous chapters.

Microlight handbook, 21 Dec 2002
An absolute must for the new wannabe microlight pilot.After searching around, this book can only be described as the Microlight pilots bible.Very easy to understand and full of pictures and diagrams.Money well spent.

The Definitive book on Microlighting theory, 19 Sep 2001
Brian has written the definitive book covering all aspects of microlighting theory. It is a must for anyone intending to obtain a PPL Microlighting license. Each section is clearly written and backed up with excellent line drawings. When I obtained my license I found the book invaluable, and even now I still go back to it from time to time to refresh my memory. This is a must-have for everyone flying, or intending to fly, microlights

A must have for UK microlight students, 17 Jun 2000
This is one book that you will be advised by most instructors to get. It covers everything you need though not in a particularly easy to grasp way I am afraid. Perhaps this should make the aspiring student realise that learning to fly is not going to be as easy as may have been suspected. You may buy other books covering the same subjects but this should be top of your shopping list.

Highly detailed but not an easy read - Text Book Stuff, 27 Feb 2000
This really is a text book, a manual as the title suggests. For those aspiring microlight pilots like myself the book is a wealth of information and seems to provide all of the material you need for the theoretical part of pilot training. My real gripe with the book is that it makes a not too difficult subject seem very difficult. This is because of the writing style which seems to come straight out of a military manual and thus fails to differentiate common sense from science. I would recommend the book to the serious student but be prepared to 'work' the book to get the information you need.

60 years on, it's still the definitive guide, 30 Dec 2003
I thought I had aeroplane control sussed as a student. A bit rough at the edges and things occasionally happened that I wasn't quite expecting, but good enough and nothing dangerous... Until I read this book.

Langewiesche has writtten a masterpeice on the "art" of flying and is still compulsive reading after 60 years in print. His references are occasionally quaint, such as comparing the "gait" of your aeroplane to the gait of your horse and referring to the elevator as "flippers" (the latter being much less misleading).

If only he'd also written books called "A Practical Guide to International Politics", "Crime Fighting Made Simple" and "Understanding Women" the word would be a better place ;o)

Definitive, 14 Jul 2003
The best explanation ever written on how to fly an aeroplane, and one of the few in which the essence of the subject is not buried under a mountain of irrelevant technical detail. If you read only one book on how to fly, this should be it. Even the illustrations are not only very clear, but evocative of the age in which it was written.

Makes flying much clearer for students., 06 Aug 2001
This book helped rid me of the feeling in my first few hours of flying that I was not let in on what everyone else knew. It really clarifies those hazy edges when you're trying to take on such foreign skills. Someone should have told him that women have been known to fly too, though!

THE pilot's Bible!, 07 Jul 1999
Without a doubt the best book on piloting I've read. Reminds us of the importants of old fashion flying techniques that our young flight instructors never learned.

the best book on flying that I ever read., 27 Apr 1999
I began flying in 1944 and am still an active pilot in 1999. The is clearly the best book ever on how a plane flys and how you fly a plane. How I missed it for all these years, I will never know.

Very evocative, but watch the translation..., 03 Dec 2007
I assume Saint-Exupery wrote this in French and that explains the trouble I had starting this book.

10 pages in I seriously considered giving up on this book, so convoluted, flowery and stodgy was the prose, something I have done with less than 5 books ever.

That I didn't and give the book 4 stars is testament to chapter two and beyond, but be aware that you might have to persevere to get to the greatness of this book.

This MIGHT be down to translation into English and some versions may be easier to read than others.

The episode of the crash in the desert is a page turning thriller, though, and his experiences in Spain during the civil war are a diverting counterpoint to the rest of the book.

A great read, if you can get into it.

Just get it now stop messing around :), 17 Jan 2006
With this book you will take away more than the sum of its words. I think I will read this again and again and hopefully pass it on to at least one person.

Fabulous, 06 Oct 2005
Quite short, but written so well it more than makes up for quantity. Hugely recomended.

Crash landing in the Sahara desert...profound insight..., 18 Apr 2001
I know a man who sees beauty in everything around him - the expression on people's faces, the way the wind blows things round, in smells and everywhere else. For him too, "Wind, Sand and Stars" has been a guide his whole life.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was one of the pioneers of flying aeroplanes, first with Aeropostale between France and Northern Africa, and later trans-Atlantic flights from South America. This book is a collection of wonderful tales and deep insights from that life.

In his time, aeroplane engines were far from reliable, and his experiences of crash landing in the Sahara desert, or the Chilean Andes, are astounding. Face to face with life and death, his mind has given birth to the most beautiful paragraphs of enlightened prose I have read.

[I am uncomfortable with the translation of William Rees. Maybe it is because I had read first an earlier translation by Lewis Galantiere (now unavailable). Galantiere had convinced de Saint-Exupery to include passages in the English version that had been left out of the French, and a few other changes. Maybe it is merely "familiarity breeds contempt", but I feel the Rees translation to be inferior. ]{****NOTE to AMAZON: this paragraph may be unsuitable as it refers to another edition.}

This book is my bible. The tenderness and beauty of his observations and view of what is essential is special. Fiercely exciting descriptive passages are blended perfectly with reflections and wisdom. This is my No.1 book of all time.

Aviator, Poet & Philosopher, 22 Apr 1998
Saint-Exupery disappeared in North Africa in 1943 while flying reconnaissance flights for the American forces. After reading Wind, Sand and Stars one has a sense that this writer/philosopher, who is probably most well known for his fable The Little Prince, was well prepared for his life to end in this way.

In the opening lines of the original French version Saint-Exupery writes:
"The earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books.
Because it resists us. Man discovers himself when he measures
himself against the obstacle"

Wind, Sand and Stars is intensely autobiographical as it tells us of this man's adventures from his beginnings as a pilot with the air mail service over France, Spain and North Africa before World War I, through to his musings as an observer of the Spanish Civil War. But far more than an adventurer, Saint-Exupery writes like a poet and has the heart of a philosopher. This wonderful book (a credit to the translator from the original French) has incredibly rich descriptive passages in which he lays out for the reader the details observed in the natural world and the response that these evoke in his mind, heart and soul.

In one section of the book (which a reader familiar with The Little Prince cannot help but conclude was inspirational for that work) Saint-Exupery describes at length his near-death experience after crashing in the Libyan desert, and wandering for days without water or hope:
"Apart from your suffering, I have no regrets. All in all, it has been
a good life. If I got free of this I should start right in again. A man
cannot live a decent life in cities, and I need to feel myself live. I
am not thinking of aviation. The aeroplane is a means, not an end.
One doesn't risk one's life for a plane any more than a farmer ploughs
for the sake of the plough. But the aeroplane is a means of getting
away from towns and their book-keeping and coming to grips with
reality."

Wind, Sand and Stars is not an easy read. But for those with patience and an interest (in a phrase from The Little Prince) in "listening with the heart", here is an insight to one man's struggle to understand and articulate the sacredness and greatness of human life.

Should be titled: "If it had wings, I flew it"!, 02 Feb 2008
If you have the slightest interest in aviation since the 1930's this book will leave you open mouthed in awe at the incredible experiences of the author. No-one would have the audacity to write this as fiction for fear of it being branded "too far fetched!". If being taken for a flight by Ernst Udet before WW2 and watching Hanna Reitsch fly one of the first helicopters inside the Olympic stadium isn't enough, the author goes on to fly every major UK, US, German, Italian, Russian and Japanese aircraft of world war two before being at the very forefront of the jet age and conquering of the "Sound Barrier"....and all whilst being in our Navy! Written from his personal diaries, the style is humble and events put down to good fortune when I am sure they are really due to his skill.
The book can be frustratingly thin on subjects that deserve a book of their own (how many other allied pilots flew a Me163 rocket plane under power I wonder...) and it flits back and forth in time a little confusingly but these are minor quibbles. The book is heavy due to the high quality paper needed to support the small print size to cram it all in and if more detail were given it would extend to several volumes.
Just read it and revel as iconic aircraft and characters of the 40's ad 50's are met and summarized before moving onto the next encounter.
In a time when the term "hero" has become confused with "celebrity", here folks, is the real thing...

A Unique Memoir, 16 Apr 2007
Certainly one for the propeller heads, but a truly unique and fascinating life story. Captain Brown was a consummate pilot, seeing service in the Royal Navy towards the end of WW2, he flew a colossal number of aircraft types setting a record that can never be broken whilst cheating death countless times, and setting many 'firsts' along the way. This book could have been twenty times thicker, but he simply breezes past stories that would have constituted a whole book for some people, though it is clear that writing is not his strength or interest.

almost but not quite there 5 stars, 27 Mar 2007
I bought this book after reading the reviews, and braced myself for an excellent read.
If you are a total aeroplane nut, then this is the book for you.
For me, the book doesn't quite deliver. The range of aircraft listed in the book is truly amazing. I found some of the chapters were "turned up, had aircraft explained to me, took off, jolly japes in the air, landed, and went home". Given the subject matter, and Eric's truly phenomenal contribution to 20th century flight, it just seemed lacking somewhere.


One of the most interesting and intriguing aviation I have read, 26 Jan 2007
I have little to add to the previous reviewer who has said all that I would have written. This is one of the most understated books I have read about a single person's exploits in the aviation world. For me every paragraph on every page could have (and should have) been expanded to provide greater detail to the already mind-blowing expolits of the author.
One day in his every day life would almost fit the 'wish list' of many aspiring aviators.

Can't I give it six stars...?, 02 Oct 2006
No test pilot in history has flown so many types of aircraft as Commander Brown and certainly no other test pilot writes as clearly and interestingly as he does. "Wings on my Sleeve" was first published in 1961 in a much shorter form. In this new edition he answers so many questions that come to mind when reading his other books - notably "Wings of the Navy" and "Wings of the Luftwaffe" - and sets these books into a much wider context of his amazing life
This is the story of his life from his first flight, with the legendary German WW1 ace and later stunt pilot and finally Director of Air Armaments in Goering's Luftwaffe, Ernst Udet, through his experiences in Nazi Germany and his encounter with the SS when they came to tell him that the two counties were at war and on through a life that included convoy escort duties and hair-raising encounters with FW Kuriers before his outstanding deck landing skills led to his being appointed to RAE Farnborough.
He then chronicles the hectic life of a war time test pilot as he flew practically every type of British and US military aircraft and evaluated captured enemy machines to develop combat tactics.
Because of his fluent German, the last days of the war found him despatched to Germany to assemble and test German aircraft. Here he accepted the surrender of a major Luftwaffe base when he landed in the mistaken assumption that it had already been captured by the allies. During this time he met and talked to Goering and Hanna Reitsch as well as every major German aircraft figure of the era.
Post war the pace did not diminish: taking delivery of the first US helicopter to be allocated to the UK, he asked about training to fly it and was handed a thick book with the words, "Here's your instructor!" High speed flights investigating the approach to Mach One were interspersed with development on the Avro Tudor and Bristol Brabazon as well as a huge range of varyingly successful (and otherwise) experimental and new military and civil aircraft.
Commander Brown's close involvement in the development of so many British and US aircraft, allied with his own evaluative and literary skills make this a book to be cherished and re-read time and again: in fact, just like his previous books!
My only complaint is that, like all good things, it leaves one wanting more of the same.
PS: Commander Brown has written far too few books! One I would love for him to write would be "Wings of the Post War Navy". Any chance, please?

Good but only for boffins, 11 Jun 2006
Whist the information contained in the book is obviously sound I found it far too indulgent in the technical areas. It reminded me of science teachers at school who were so wrapped up in the detail they were unable to convey basic (and not overly complex) theories to the layman.

If you found mathematics and physics a doddle then this book will suit you fine. However, for others you may still find yourself searching the net for far clearer and succint definitions and explanations of normal principals such as how a wing creates lift.

Having read this book I have, if anything, ended up more confused about flying than I was before. However, perhaps when my lessons begin I am able to apply some of this exhaustive theory, I may find it more beneficial.

However, in summary, whilst it offers a wealth of technical information, it is often poorly explained and summarised, and seems to presume that the reader will understand the wealth of flying acronyms mentioned perhaps once in passing in previous chapters.

Microlight handbook, 21 Dec 2002
An absolute must for the new wannabe microlight pilot.After searching around, this book can only be described as the Microlight pilots bible.Very easy to understand and full of pictures and diagrams.Money well spent.

The Definitive book on Microlighting theory, 19 Sep 2001
Brian has written the definitive book covering all aspects of microlighting theory. It is a must for anyone intending to obtain a PPL Microlighting license. Each section is clearly written and backed up with excellent line drawings. When I obtained my license I found the book invaluable, and even now I still go back to it from time to time to refresh my memory. This is a must-have for everyone flying, or intending to fly, microlights

A must have for UK microlight students, 17 Jun 2000
This is one book that you will be advised by most instructors to get. It covers everything you need though not in a particularly easy to grasp way I am afraid. Perhaps this should make the aspiring student realise that learning to fly is not going to be as easy as may have been suspected. You may buy other books covering the same subjects but this should be top of your shopping list.

Highly detailed but not an easy read - Text Book Stuff, 27 Feb 2000
This really is a text book, a manual as the title suggests. For those aspiring microlight pilots like myself the book is a wealth of information and seems to provide all of the material you need for the theoretical part of pilot training. My real gripe with the book is that it makes a not too difficult subject seem very difficult. This is because of the writing style which seems to come straight out of a military manual and thus fails to differentiate common sense from science. I would recommend the book to the serious student but be prepared to 'work' the book to get the information you need.

60 years on, it's still the definitive guide, 30 Dec 2003
I thought I had aeroplane control sussed as a student. A bit rough at the edges and things occasionally happened that I wasn't quite expecting, but good enough and nothing dangerous... Until I read this book.

Langewiesche has writtten a masterpeice on the "art" of flying and is still compulsive reading after 60 years in print. His references are occasionally quaint, such as comparing the "gait" of your aeroplane to the gait of your horse and referring to the elevator as "flippers" (the latter being much less misleading).

If only he'd also written books called "A Practical Guide to International Politics", "Crime Fighting Made Simple" and "Understanding Women" the word would be a better place ;o)

Definitive, 14 Jul 2003
The best explanation ever written on how to fly an aeroplane, and one of the few in which the essence of the subject is not buried under a mountain of irrelevant technical detail. If you read only one book on how to fly, this should be it. Even the illustrations are not only very clear, but evocative of the age in which it was written.

Makes flying much clearer for students., 06 Aug 2001
This book helped rid me of the feeling in my first few hours of flying that I was not let in on what everyone else knew. It really clarifies those hazy edges when you're trying to take on such foreign skills. Someone should have told him that women have been known to fly too, though!

THE pilot's Bible!, 07 Jul 1999
Without a doubt the best book on piloting I've read. Reminds us of the importants of old fashion flying techniques that our young flight instructors never learned.

the best book on flying that I ever read., 27 Apr 1999
I began flying in 1944 and am still an active pilot in 1999. The is clearly the best book ever on how a plane flys and how you fly a plane. How I missed it for all these years, I will never know.

Superb page-turner . A 'must read' for science hobbyists, 27 Aug 2005
Great book, couldn't put it down. There are two fundamental aspects to the book;

1- the historic/conspiracy/secrecy angle that documents the fascinating investigative approach of the author to unearthing the background to one of, in my opinion, the most staggering scientific discoveries of last century;

2- and the actual science of zero point energy and related forces etc, that has left me reading more and more books and articles on the very real science of zero-point energy and free energy machines etc. I was particularly interested in the work of Viktor Schauberger and have subsequently read several of his books.

This book is a brilliant (if a little light on hard scientific information) starting point for whetting ones appetite on the subject of zero-point energy. Buy it - and it will change your view of science forever!!!

Stranger than fiction, 07 Apr 2005
'Zero-point' energy is an aspect of quantum field theory whose 'reality' is still very much open to interpretation. However, given its existence then there are theories which argue that ZPE, gravity and hence mass are inextricably linked. The intriguing possibility then is that the fabled 'anti-gravity machine' is a theoretical possibility rather than science fiction.

A more intriguing possibility - have scientists already stumbled upon such machines?

Nick Cook, a respected Jane's hack, recounts his own story of delving through the ofttimes murky world of aerospace research in order to find answers to this question. And despite what the blurb above says the answers are very much less than definitative.

This is not a criticism, indeed its what makes the book so credible. Much of his investigation is involved with the absence of information - widely publicised research which suddenly disappears, loquacious engineers who quckly become cagy when asked the 'wrong' question. You are left with an elusive notion that there must be *something* behind the stories but no definite idea of what this might be in a world where excessive, paranoid security seems to be the norm.

All in all its a fascinating real-life X-files investigation involving high-technology, forbidden science and Nazis. If only he threw in some hot gypsies it would be a classic.

Utterly intriguing, yet not sure whether I believe any of it, 31 Aug 2004
One of the most interesting books, I've ever read, "The Hunt for Zero Point" is crammed full of fascinating glimpses into what may be some of the greatest secrets of science and history.
My two quibbles about it are that it is too short - far too short - to do justice to almost any of the fascinating issues it covers; and that there is very little in the way of evidence to back up many of the things Cook speculates about.

A proper index and beefed up bibliography would have helped, too.

Having said that, I'd urge anyone interested in cutting edge science and engineering, military technology, or the great secrets of World War 2 to read this book.

Good read, 05 Jun 2004
A very good read enjoyed it all, just like to point out that the reviewer that didn't read the book has a very invalid point as the book is not about reaching 0K its about zero point energy. Before I took the time to read the blurb I also made this mistake.

Crackpot science, 02 Jun 2004
I haven't read the book so I can't possibly comment on it. But I should warn you that physics simply doesn't support the tapping of this so called "zero-point energy".

The first objection is simply that if something were at zero point (actually, 0 Kelvin) it has reached the lowest possible energy level. So it can't give out any more energy. None at all.

The second objection is that it is impossible to reach zero K. At all. It's like an object trying to reach the speed of light: it gets (infinitely) more difficult as you get nearer the objective.

All the rest is mere conspiracy theory, in the strongest and most debasing sense of the word.

Very evocative, but watch the translation..., 03 Dec 2007
I assume Saint-Exupery wrote this in French and that explains the trouble I had starting this book.

10 pages in I seriously considered giving up on this book, so convoluted, flowery and stodgy was the prose, something I have done with less than 5 books ever.

That I didn't and give the book 4 stars is testament to chapter two and beyond, but be aware that you might have to persevere to get to the greatness of this book.

This MIGHT be down to translation into English and some versions may be easier to read than others.

The episode of the crash in the desert is a page turning thriller, though, and his experiences in Spain during the civil war are a diverting counterpoint to the rest of the book.

A great read, if you can get into it.

Just get it now stop messing around :), 17 Jan 2006
With this book you will take away more than the sum of its words. I think I will read this again and again and hopefully pass it on to at least one person.

Fabulous, 06 Oct 2005
Quite short, but written so well it more than makes up for quantity. Hugely recomended.

Crash landing in the Sahara desert...profound insight..., 18 Apr 2001
I know a man who sees beauty in everything around him - the expression on people's faces, the way the wind blows things round, in smells and everywhere else. For him too, "Wind, Sand and Stars" has been a guide his whole life.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was one of the pioneers of flying aeroplanes, first with Aeropostale between France and Northern Africa, and later trans-Atlantic flights from South America. This book is a collection of wonderful tales and deep insights from that life.

In his time, aeroplane engines were far from reliable, and his experiences of crash landing in the Sahara desert, or the Chilean Andes, are astounding. Face to face with life and death, his mind has given birth to the most beautiful paragraphs of enlightened prose I have read.

[I am uncomfortable with the translation of William Rees. Maybe it is because I had read first an earlier translation by Lewis Galantiere (now unavailable). Galantiere had convinced de Saint-Exupery to include passages in the English version that had been left out of the French, and a few other changes. Maybe it is merely "familiarity breeds contempt", but I feel the Rees translation to be inferior. ]{****NOTE to AMAZON: this paragraph may be unsuitable as it refers to another edition.}

This book is my bible. The tenderness and beauty of his observations and view of what is essential is special. Fiercely exciting descriptive passages are blended perfectly with reflections and wisdom. This is my No.1 book of all time.

Aviator, Poet & Philosopher, 22 Apr 1998
Saint-Exupery disappeared in North Africa in 1943 while flying reconnaissance flights for the American forces. After reading Wind, Sand and Stars one has a sense that this writer/philosopher, who is probably most well known for his fable The Little Prince, was well prepared for his life to end in this way.

In the opening lines of the original French version Saint-Exupery writes:
"The earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books.
Because it resists us. Man discovers himself when he measures
himself against the obstacle"

Wind, Sand and Stars is intensely autobiographical as it tells us of this man's adventures from his beginnings as a pilot with the air mail service over France, Spain and North Africa before World War I, through to his musings as an observer of the Spanish Civil War. But far more than an adventurer, Saint-Exupery writes like a poet and has the heart of a philosopher. This wonderful book (a credit to the translator from the original French) has incredibly rich descriptive passages in which he lays out for the reader the details observed in the natural world and the response that these evoke in his mind, heart and soul.

In one section of the book (which a reader familiar with The Little Prince cannot help but conclude was inspirational for that work) Saint-Exupery describes at length his near-death experience after crashing in the Libyan desert, and wandering for days without water or hope:
"Apart from your suffering, I have no regrets. All in all, it has been
a good life. If I got free of this I should start right in again. A man
cannot live a decent life in cities, and I need to feel myself live. I
am not thinking of aviation. The aeroplane is a means, not an end.
One doesn't risk one's life for a plane any more than a farmer ploughs
for the sake of the plough. But the aeroplane is a means of getting
away from towns and their book-keeping and coming to grips with
reality."

Wind, Sand and Stars is not an easy read. But for those with patience and an interest (in a phrase from The Little Prince) in "listening with the heart", here is an insight to one man's struggle to understand and articulate the sacredness and greatness of human life.

Should be titled: "If it had wings, I flew it"!, 02 Feb 2008
If you have the slightest interest in aviation since the 1930's this book will leave you open mouthed in awe at the incredible experiences of the author. No-one would have the audacity to write this as fiction for fear of it being branded "too far fetched!". If being taken for a flight by Ernst Udet before WW2 and watching Hanna Reitsch fly one of the first helicopters inside the Olympic stadium isn't enough, the author goes on to fly every major UK, US, German, Italian, Russian and Japanese aircraft of world war two before being at the very forefront of the jet age and conquering of the "Sound Barrier"....and all whilst being in our Navy! Written from his personal diaries, the style is humble and events put down to good fortune when I am sure they are really due to his skill.
The book can be frustratingly thin on subjects that deserve a book of their own (how many other allied pilots flew a Me163 rocket plane under power I wonder...) and it flits back and forth in time a little confusingly but these are minor quibbles. The book is heavy due to the high quality paper needed to support the small print size to cram it all in and if more detail were given it would extend to several volumes.
Just read it and revel as iconic aircraft and characters of the 40's ad 50's are met and summarized before moving onto the next encounter.
In a time when the term "hero" has become confused with "celebrity", here folks, is the real thing...

A Unique Memoir, 16 Apr 2007
Certainly one for the propeller heads, but a truly unique and fascinating life story. Captain Brown was a consummate pilot, seeing service in the Royal Navy towards the end of WW2, he flew a colossal number of aircraft types setting a record that can never be broken whilst cheating death countless times, and setting many 'firsts' along the way. This book could have been twenty times thicker, but he simply breezes past stories that would have constituted a whole book for some people, though it is clear that writing is not his strength or interest.

almost but not quite there 5 stars, 27 Mar 2007
I bought this book after reading the reviews, and braced myself for an excellent read.
If you are a total aeroplane nut, then this is the book for you.
For me, the book doesn't quite deliver. The range of aircraft listed in the book is truly amazing. I found some of the chapters were "turned up, had aircraft explained to me, took off, jolly japes in the air, landed, and went home". Given the subject matter, and Eric's truly phenomenal contribution to 20th century flight, it just seemed lacking somewhere.


One of the most interesting and intriguing aviation I have read, 26 Jan 2007
I have little to add to the previous reviewer who has said all that I would have written. This is one of the most understated books I have read about a single person's exploits in the aviation world. For me every paragraph on every page could have (and should have) been expanded to provide greater detail to the already mind-blowing expolits of the author.
One day in his every day life would almost fit the 'wish list' of many aspiring aviators.

Can't I give it six stars...?, 02 Oct 2006
No test pilot in history has flown so many types of aircraft as Commander Brown and certainly no other test pilot writes as clearly and interestingly as he does. "Wings on my Sleeve" was first published in 1961 in a much shorter form. In this new edition he answers so many questions that come to mind when reading his other books - notably "Wings of the Navy" and "Wings of the Luftwaffe" - and sets these books into a much wider context of his amazing life
This is the story of his life from his first flight, with the legendary German WW1 ace and later stunt pilot and finally Director of Air Armaments in Goering's Luftwaffe, Ernst Udet, through his experiences in Nazi Germany and his encounter with the SS when they came to tell him that the two counties were at war and on through a life that included convoy escort duties and hair-raising encounters with FW Kuriers before his outstanding deck landing skills led to his being appointed to RAE Farnborough.
He then chronicles the hectic life of a war time test pilot as he flew practically every type of British and US military aircraft and evaluated captured enemy machines to develop combat tactics.
Because of his fluent German, the last days of the war found him despatched to Germany to assemble and test German aircraft. Here he accepted the surrender of a major Luftwaffe base when he landed in the mistaken assumption that it had already been captured by the allies. During this time he met and talked to Goering and Hanna Reitsch as well as every major German aircraft figure of the era.
Post war the pace did not diminish: taking delivery of the first US helicopter to be allocated to the UK, he asked about training to fly it and was handed a thick book with the words, "Here's your instructor!" High speed flights investigating the approach to Mach One were interspersed with development on the Avro Tudor and Bristol Brabazon as well as a huge range of varyingly successful (and otherwise) experimental and new military and civil aircraft.
Commander Brown's close involvement in the development of so many British and US aircraft, allied with his own evaluative and literary skills make this a book to be cherished and re-read time and again: in fact, just like his previous books!
My only complaint is that, like all good things, it leaves one wanting more of the same.
PS: Commander Brown has written far too few books! One I would love for him to write would be "Wings of the Post War Navy". Any chance, please?

Good but only for boffins, 11 Jun 2006
Whist the information contained in the book is obviously sound I found it far too indulgent in the technical areas. It reminded me of science teachers at school who were so wrapped up in the detail they were unable to convey basic (and not overly complex) theories to the layman.

If you found mathematics and physics a doddle then this book will suit you fine. However, for others you may still find yourself searching the net for far clearer and succint definitions and explanations of normal principals such as how a wing creates lift.

Having read this book I have, if anything, ended up more confused about flying than I was before. However, perhaps when my lessons begin I am able to apply some of this exhaustive theory, I may find it more beneficial.

However, in summary, whilst it offers a wealth of technical information, it is often poorly explained and summarised, and seems to presume that the reader will understand the wealth of flying acronyms mentioned perhaps once in passing in previous chapters.

Microlight handbook, 21 Dec 2002
An absolute must for the new wannabe microlight pilot.After searching around, this book can only be described as the Microlight pilots bible.Very easy to understand and full of pictures and diagrams.Money well spent.

The Definitive book on Microlighting theory, 19 Sep 2001
Brian has written the definitive book covering all aspects of microlighting theory. It is a must for anyone intending to obtain a PPL Microlighting license. Each section is clearly written and backed up with excellent line drawings. When I obtained my license I found the book invaluable, and even now I still go back to it from time to time to refresh my memory. This is a must-have for everyone flying, or intending to fly, microlights

A must have for UK microlight students, 17 Jun 2000
This is one book that you will be advised by most instructors to get. It covers everything you need though not in a particularly easy to grasp way I am afraid. Perhaps this should make the aspiring student realise that learning to fly is not going to be as easy as may have been suspected. You may buy other books covering the same subjects but this should be top of your shopping list.

Highly detailed but not an easy read - Text Book Stuff, 27 Feb 2000
This really is a text book, a manual as the title suggests. For those aspiring microlight pilots like myself the book is a wealth of information and seems to provide all of the material you need for the theoretical part of pilot training. My real gripe with the book is that it makes a not too difficult subject seem very difficult. This is because of the writing style which seems to come straight out of a military manual and thus fails to differentiate common sense from science. I would recommend the book to the serious student but be prepared to 'work' the book to get the information you need.

60 years on, it's still the definitive guide, 30 Dec 2003
I thought I had aeroplane control sussed as a student. A bit rough at the edges and things occasionally happened that I wasn't quite expecting, but good enough and nothing dangerous... Until I read this book.

Langewiesche has writtten a masterpeice on the "art" of flying and is still compulsive reading after 60 years in print. His references are occasionally quaint, such as comparing the "gait" of your aeroplane to the gait of your horse and referring to the elevator as "flippers" (the latter being much less misleading).

If only he'd also written books called "A Practical Guide to International Politics", "Crime Fighting Made Simple" and "Understanding Women" the word would be a better place ;o)

Definitive, 14 Jul 2003
The best explanation ever written on how to fly an aeroplane, and one of the few in which the essence of the subject is not buried under a mountain of irrelevant technical detail. If you read only one book on how to fly, this should be it. Even the illustrations are not only very clear, but evocative of the age in which it was written.

Makes flying much clearer for students., 06 Aug 2001
This book helped rid me of the feeling in my first few hours of flying that I was not let in on what everyone else knew. It really clarifies those hazy edges when you're trying to take on such foreign skills. Someone should have told him that women have been known to fly too, though!

THE pilot's Bible!, 07 Jul 1999
Without a doubt the best book on piloting I've read. Reminds us of the importants of old fashion flying techniques that our young flight instructors never learned.

the best book on flying that I ever read., 27 Apr 1999
I began flying in 1944 and am still an active pilot in 1999. The is clearly the best book ever on how a plane flys and how you fly a plane. How I missed it for all these years, I will never know.

Superb page-turner . A 'must read' for science hobbyists, 27 Aug 2005
Great book, couldn't put it down. There are two fundamental aspects to the book;

1- the historic/conspiracy/secrecy angle that documents the fascinating investigative approach of the author to unearthing the background to one of, in my opinion, the most staggering scientific discoveries of last century;

2- and the actual science of zero point energy and related forces etc, that has left me reading more and more books and articles on the very real science of zero-point energy and free energy machines etc. I was particularly interested in the work of Viktor Schauberger and have subsequently read several of his books.

This book is a brilliant (if a little light on hard scientific information) starting point for whetting ones appetite on the subject of zero-point energy. Buy it - and it will change your view of science forever!!!

Stranger than fiction, 07 Apr 2005
'Zero-point' energy is an aspect of quantum field theory whose 'reality' is still very much open to interpretation. However, given its existence then there are theories which argue that ZPE, gravity and hence mass are inextricably linked. The intriguing possibility then is that the fabled 'anti-gravity machine' is a theoretical possibility rather than science fiction.

A more intriguing possibility - have scientists already stumbled upon such machines?

Nick Cook, a respected Jane's hack, recounts his own story of delving through the ofttimes murky world of aerospace research in order to find answers to this question. And despite what the blurb above says the answers are very much less than definitative.

This is not a criticism, indeed its what makes the book so credible. Much of his investigation is involved with the absence of information - widely publicised research which suddenly disappears, loquacious engineers who quckly become cagy when asked the 'wrong' question. You are left with an elusive notion that there must be *something* behind the stories but no definite idea of what this might be in a world where excessive, paranoid security seems to be the norm.

All in all its a fascinating real-life X-files investigation involving high-technology, forbidden science and Nazis. If only he threw in some hot gypsies it would be a classic.

Utterly intriguing, yet not sure whether I believe any of it, 31 Aug 2004
One of the most interesting books, I've ever read, "The Hunt for Zero Point" is crammed full of fascinating glimpses into what may be some of the greatest secrets of science and history.
My two quibbles about it are that it is too short - far too short - to do justice to almost any of the fascinating issues it covers; and that there is very little in the way of evidence to back up many of the things Cook speculates about.

A proper index and beefed up bibliography would have helped, too.

Having said that, I'd urge anyone interested in cutting edge science and engineering, military technology, or the great secrets of World War 2 to read this book.

Good read, 05 Jun 2004
A very good read enjoyed it all, just like to point out that the reviewer that didn't read the book has a very invalid point as the book is not about reaching 0K its about zero point energy. Before I took the time to read the blurb I also made this mistake.

Crackpot science, 02 Jun 2004
I haven't read the book so I can't possibly comment on it. But I should warn you that physics simply doesn't support the tapping of this so called "zero-point energy".

The first objection is simply that if something were at zero point (actually, 0 Kelvin) it has reached the lowest possible energy level. So it can't give out any more energy. None at all.

The second objection is that it is impossible to reach zero K. At all. It's like an object trying to reach the speed of light: it gets (infinitely) more difficult as you get nearer the objective.

All the rest is mere conspiracy theory, in the strongest and most debasing sense of the word.

An extremely disappointing read..., 15 Mar 2007
This should be a terrific book - providing a single source of reference for the would-be airline employee. Sadly, it simply doesn't deliver.

Peppered with technical inaccuracies (some of them horribly glaring), very imprecise or even misleading explanations, and shockingly inaccurate diagrams, it should leave the able student simply disappointed. Sadly, I suspect that many readers will be aspiring pilots cramming for interviews, and they will emerge from their reading confused and with false information.

Some of this is down to simply inept writing - the author uses vague words in a world of precision, confuses terms, and lacks the essential ability to get difficult concepts across in a straightforward manner. Poor or absent research, and the author's assumption that he knows what he is talking about, is to blame elsewhere. Custom and practice within the aviation industry of dumbing down some concepts to make them manageable, blithely accepted by the author either because he doesn't want to buck the trend or can't get to grips, himself, with the truth causes more disappointment for the expert reader.

Finally, there has clearly been no effective effort to proof-read. From basic errors of grammar, punctuation, and spelling, to the publication of straightforwardly inaccurate explanations, indicates that this book has neither been written nor edited properly.

As an aviation professional, now somewhat involved in writing technical material, I was very disappointed indeed by this book.


Concise and informative, 30 Dec 2005
A great source of reference knowledge for interviews - provides all the "trivial persuits" answers to those little horrors that might get thrown at you.

It's a sizeable chunk of book but concise, though details where it needs to be.

Nice idea, good presentation, shame about the content!, 08 Jun 2004
There is great potential in a book like this... we have all got to the stage where our technical knowledge is a bit fuzzy, and there's an interview coming up. Even those who kept their ATPL theory notes will be loathe to reach for them, so this handy-sized memory-jog should be just the thing to refresh the memory.

And, actually, it HAS refreshed my memory. I've found it pretty useful. The questions are well laid out, in a sensible order, and with some pleasant-looking diagrams. So I'm happy with the questions. Some of the answers, on the other hand, are a bit sketchy.

Now, I don't know the author, but the back cover implies that he is an 'experienced airline pilot', and I don't doubt that he's a very good one. However, some of the answers he gives to his own questions in this book are ambiguous, some are dubious, and some are just plain wrong.

For instance, the formula for lift is given in the book (page 4) as:

1/2R + V^2 + S + Cl
Where:
R = Density
V^2 = TAS squared
S = Wing span area
Cl = Coefficient of lift.

Even if we were to ignore 'Wing span area' (by which he can be presumed to mean 'Wing plan area'), the formula is incorrect. (Replace the '+' symbols with 'x' and you're pretty much there.)

Pages 13-14 see some very confused ideas about tail control-surfaces, moments and arms.

I could go on.

Despite the answers being fairly untrustworthy, this is a useful book, just to get the old grey matter going. If you're approaching an interview, try to find something similar. If you can't find something similar, buy this BUT remember - the questions are more use than the answers!

Interview Material, 01 Nov 2003
If you are going for am airline interview as a pilot, then this is the book for you, finding it hard to struggle through Handling the Big Jets ?? Then buy this cos all the info you need and have forgotten since ATPL days is here in a clear and concise format..... fantastic

Very evocative, but watch the translation..., 03 Dec 2007
I assume Saint-Exupery wrote this in French and that explains the trouble I had starting this book.

10 pages in I seriously considered giving up on this book, so convoluted, flowery and stodgy was the prose, something I have done with less than 5 books ever.

That I didn't and give the book 4 stars is testament to chapter two and beyond, but be aware that you might have to persevere to get to the greatness of this book.

This MIGHT be down to translation into English and some versions may be easier to read than others.

The episode of the crash in the desert is a page turning thriller, though, and his experiences in Spain during the civil war are a diverting counterpoint to the rest of the book.

A great read, if you can get into it.

Just get it now stop messing around :), 17 Jan 2006
With this book you will take away more than the sum of its words. I think I will read this again and again and hopefully pass it on to at least one person.

Fabulous, 06 Oct 2005
Quite short, but written so well it more than makes up for quantity. Hugely recomended.

Crash landing in the Sahara desert...profound insight..., 18 Apr 2001
I know a man who sees beauty in everything around him - the expression on people's faces, the way the wind blows things round, in smells and everywhere else. For him too, "Wind, Sand and Stars" has been a guide his whole life.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was one of the pioneers of flying aeroplanes, first with Aeropostale between France and Northern Africa, and later trans-Atlantic flights from South America. This book is a collection of wonderful tales and deep insights from that life.

In his time, aeroplane engines were far from reliable, and his experiences of crash landing in the Sahara desert, or the Chilean Andes, are astounding. Face to face with life and death, his mind has given birth to the most beautiful paragraphs of enlightened prose I have read.

[I am uncomfortable with the translation of William Rees. Maybe it is because I had read first an earlier translation by Lewis Galantiere (now unavailable). Galantiere had convinced de Saint-Exupery to inc