A Higher Call

An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II

By: Adam Makos

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER: “Beautifully told.”—CNN • “A remarkable story…worth retelling and celebrating.”—USA Today • “Oh, it’s a good one!”—Fox News

A beautiful story of a brotherhood between enemies emerges from the horrors of World War II in this New York Times bestseller by the author of Devotion, now a Major Motion Picture.

Four days before Christmas in 1943, a badly damaged American bomber struggled to fly over wartime Germany. At its controls was a twenty-one-year-old pilot. Half his crew lay wounded or dead. It was their first mission. Suddenly a sleek, dark shape pulled up on the bomber’s tail—a German Messerschmitt fighter. Worse, the German pilot was an ace, a man able to destroy the American bomber with the squeeze of a trigger. What happened next would defy imagination and later be called the most incredible encounter between enemies in World War II.

This is the true story of the two pilots whose lives collided in the skies that day—the American—Second Lieutenant Charlie Brown, a former farm boy from West Virginia who came to captain a B-17—and the German—Second Lieutenant Franz Stigler, a former airline pilot from Bavaria who sought to avoid fighting in World War II.

A Higher Call follows both Charlie and Franz’s harrowing missions. Charlie would face takeoffs in English fog over the flaming wreckage of his buddies’ planes, flak bursts so close they would light his cockpit, and packs of enemy fighters that would circle his plane like sharks. Franz would face sandstorms in the desert, a crash alone at sea, and the spectacle of one thousand bombers, each with eleven guns, waiting for his attack.

Ultimately, Charlie and Franz would stare across the frozen skies at one another. What happened between them, the American Eighth Air Force would later classify as top secret. It was an act that Franz could never mention without facing a firing squad. It was the encounter that would haunt both Charlie and Franz for forty years until, as old men, they would search for one another, a last mission that could change their lives forever.

©2012 Adam Makos (P)2013 Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Critic reviews

“This book grips you like a movie. It’s part Top Gun, part Valkyrie, and more!”(Marcus Brotherton, New York Times best-selling author

“It is often said that ‘war is hell’ - and it is - however, this story reveals how the human spirit can shine in the darkest hours. A Higher Call is an eye-opener.” (Col. Charles McGee, Tuskegee Airman, WWII)

“‘Can good men be found on both sides of a bad war?’ The author asks the question and delivers the answer. A powerful, haunting read.” (Chuck Tatum, author of Red Blood, Black Sand)

I love WWII history

loved this book, I could imagine being there since I was stationed in Germany very near to a lot of the locations.

Great work of history

What made the experience of listening to A Higher Call the most enjoyable?

Seeing the war from a different perspective

What about Robertson Dean’s performance did you like?

As is always the case with an audiobook, the narrator makes the book come alive. Robertson Dean was magnificent.

Amazing story of true compassion, heroism, and chivalry

This book is absolutely amazing! It is very captivating and I would recommend this story to anyone in the military or who is interested in history or the military. Being a member of the Air Force this book hits closer to home and made me cry several times. This book is more than just a book, it is the living accounts of true acts of chivalry of a greater generation during a terrible time.

A Higher Call

"A Higher Call" is sympathetic view of the humanities of war, as seen from both sides of the cock-pit.

This is a well-researched, and well-written tome about two men during the second World War, and the events that surround their lives up to, and surrounding, their poignant encounter (and after).

Although the story became somewhat tiring to listen to at times, it proved to be well-thought-out, and leaves the listener with a satisfying conclusion. The insights into aeronautics was simply spell-binding, and at times, I was riding along with the pilots several miles above the world (it is that kind of book).

The pilots were both Catholics, and I for one, was glad to hear about "God in the foxholes" (or the cock-pits, as the case may be).

Exceptional Story!!!

This is a truly inspiring and exceptional story. It gave me a new perspective on the complex situation of the German people in WW2.

Air Combat and Honor

This is about both German and US pilots and totally absorbs attention. Good research and wonderful writing and telling to keep this story from being confusing with so many different characters and two different Air Corps.

Gripping stories

I loved the stories and grew to know the crews of the aircrafts. These stories should continue to be passed on and remembered.

interesting story

The primary story is primarily about a German that did one great act of mercy that saveed the lives of B17 crew.

Captivating Listen

This book kept me immersed in a world of struggle and pride. The tale of the two pilots, and their take on the war, and the men who fly through it, was captivating. When the B17 was being shot at, I could feel the despair of the pilot as he lost control of the aircraft, and the utter terror of having an enemy fighter pilot on his wings.

This is a great book, and if you don't tear up at the end - you have no heart.

Amazing Selflessness

Thank you Adam Makos for taking this incredible story and writing a book about it. Otherwise this might be lost to history. In an age of constant and revolting narcissism, it’s so wonderful to listen to military service stories of self sacrifice and humility. And to this incredible story about men who are supposed to be enemies seeking to save each other from death. This is the best of humanity. Robertson Dean is the voice of the bomber pilot. One loves to hear his steady, consistent voice.