CHARLES NUNGESSER - A Life in Images of an Ace Conquering the Skies

Charles Nungesser, the pilot who set out to cross the Atlantic by air with his comrade Coli, and who never arrived... An extraordinary mystery that, a century later, remains unsolved.

Patrick de Gmeline paints a detailed portrait of this man and this pilot with an exceptional career: with thirty citations on his Croix de guerre, including 28 palms and 2 vermeil stars, he is the most decorated serviceman in the entire French army in the 20th century. This butcher's son, an ace of the First World War, became after the war one of the most popular Frenchmen in the world. He founded a flying school and took part in numerous air shows across Europe and the United States.

He was even the hero of a Hollywood film (Le Vainqueur du ciel) and attempted in 1927 to be the first to reach New York by air... His tragic disappearance definitively enshrined him in the legend of aviation.

Beyond a biography, this is a unique photographic album bringing together more than 300 rare or previously unpublished photographs. Drawing on the remarkable collections of the musée de l'Air et de l'Espace, Patrick de Gmeline reveals the thousand lives of Charles Nungesser, one of the greatest heroes of aviation.

Patrick de Gmeline, born in 1946, is considered one of the finest French military historians. He has published around forty works honoured by some ten literary prizes. His most recent book on Charles Nungesser, published by Éditions du Rocher, tells the story of this great pilot. This album, based on all the surviving photographs of the ace, also owes much to the musée de l'Air et de l'Espace, which opened its collections to him.