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)

An amazing story

This book is one that needs to be read or listened to by everyone. The writer puts you into the second world war and allows you to get a glimpse into not just what happened to these two men but also their mind set that crushes the stereotype that every german in world war two was a no good Nazi.

awesome

loved it, great book look forward to listening to it again!! it was well worthwhile

So Important

Remembering history is so critical to our future. Book was well written and researched. I easily found myself in the air or on the flight line with the characters.

A hidden gem!

I had never heard of this book, but saw a review scrolling down the right side of the screen and quickly clicked on it. It sounded like an interesting story, so I ordered it. Boy, am I glad I did. A wonderfully researched book that gives fantastic insight into the two different points of view of pilots in WWII. The story was well crafted and the narrator was well matched to the story.

I won't go on, but this was one of the most pleasant books I've had the pleasure to listen to in some time.

Great read

Biographies are always moving to listen/read due to the truth is better than fiction logic. Amazing story and Dean does a great job of narration. Highly recommend book

Hidden History

Great story of kindness and compassion.
Thank You from an Army Veteran.
God bless all.

One of the Best books I have listened to on Audible

This is actually the first book I have done a review on. In addition to the great story it tells the imagery in the language that the author uses to relate the story makes it a very interesting read.

He Found A Brother

An incredible tale of an encounter of enemies over the skies if Germany in World War 2.

I have read several books about the war and the inhumane things that the Gremans had done. By reading this book I learned that the atrocities of Germany were not completed by Germans but by Nazis. Nazis are evil and not all who fought for Germany during the war were Nazis.

Many men had no choice.

I encourage you, if you have any interest in WW2, to read this book.

Amazing Story

very engaging narration it was an excellent time well spent I can't wait to listen

Wow... Great story... Learned lots about this period in history

This was suggested to me by am old pilot friend of mine. I usually am not much into this type of historical piece but i was on a long drive and thought, why not. What a great decision. To get into the minds and stories of the great men and women who had to make decisions with such tremendous repercussions... I cried several times thinking about the losses, thinking about the parallels of current overbearing politicians in America who would seem to want this type of control over Americans the way the Nazis had over all Germans. But there is always good from those who don't lose touch with their humanity, even in the face of great evil or risk to themselves for doing the right thing. Not all Germans were Nazis... Definitely worth the listen.