Joseph Kessel was a popular author of such adventure stories and best-sellers as L'Equipage (1923; translated as Pilot and Observer, 1928), Belle de jour (1928; translated, 1962), Le Lion (1958; translated as The Lion, 1959), and Les Cavaliers (1967; translated as The Horsemen, 1968). He was also a journalist and adventurer not unlike many of his fictional heroes. As both a personality and a writer Kessel might be considered a French counterpart to Ernest Hemingway. His characters, for the most part, are individuals seeking to fix existentially their rightful places in the world. He also has something in common with André Malraux, who was similarly driven to test himself through action, some of it dangerous, and in whose works adventure is a major theme. Kessel is, however, much less of a metaphysical novelist than Malraux and less concerned with the dynamics of history. Kessel is recognized along with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry as a...