Blaise Cendrars called it the most extraordinary document, as well as the liveliest and most picturesque text you could read about the early days of aviation. In his new preface, Philippe Forest adds: truly novel, and a true novel. Here is the first complete edition of Roland Garros’s Memoirs, which recounts how a young man of 20 falls in love with that bit of wood and canvas that lets human thought take flight, to the point that four years later, the young man becomes the first person to complete a trans-Mediterranean flight.

His story, which he wrote as a prisoner of war in Germany, proves that a man can be both a hero and a poet. Roland Garros describes his races and records with enchanting lyricism. There’s a touch of cheek in his descriptions of touring the Americas, and of friendly outings amongst death-defying daredevils. And a touch of Jules Verne in these memories that pair technology with fantasy, adventurers with investors, and dandies with boxers.

The memoirs of the brilliant flying ace Roland Garros recount the years 1909 to 1914. They are followed by a re-transcription of the aviator’s war diaries from August 1914 until he was taken prisoner in April 1915. With a preface by the writer Philippe Forest, the book also includes almost a dozen photographs as well as biographical information provided by Roland Garros’s nephew, Jean-Pierre Lefèvre Garros.