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  • A Higher Call

  • An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II
  • Written by: Adam Makos
  • Narrated by: Robertson Dean
  • Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (175 ratings)

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A Higher Call

Written by: Adam Makos
Narrated by: Robertson Dean
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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.

What the critics say

“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)

What listeners say about A Higher Call

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Powerful story of humanity in a dark time

I found this account of two world War 2 veterans stories fascinating!! Not so often do we hear the pilots side of it. Very well done!

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Fantastic story

I was fascinated by the story and listened to the book in just a couple of days. Couldn’t stop listening. Great story of human kindness. I wish we had no wars on our planet.

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Loved it. Great story great reading.

Highly recommended. Loved the story. Narrator did an excellent job. Balanced story of the horrors of war with a wonderful closing of the tale after many years

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Warriors of the sky

This is a most fantastic story of humans and their passion to fly. Never again will the experiences in the air during WW2 be re-created. I will listen to this again, and so should you.

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Remarkable!

I feel compelled to review, which I normally don’t! The remarkable …almost re-enactment, of a horrific time in our history! I couldn’t stop listening! Ironically finishing this morning …Remembrance Day🌺

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an amazing story and more like this needed

stumbled upon this book and I'm so glad I did. the author writes in a way to make you feel like you were there. more books like this are needed!

narrator is perfect too!

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Amazing story

One of the best stories I've ever heard. Lots of history that isn't well known and an amazing personal story about the airmen who survived the war.

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A truly incredible story

How these two ‘enemy’ lives intersected during a chance encounter in WWII, one saving the life of the other, is remarkable enough… but for them to both live long lives and eventually meet and become friends is stunning. Heartwarming.

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riveting!

this was amazing! Couldn't stop listening. highly recommend this book. I couldn't imagine being alone during this long time frame.
These men made a sacrifice I will never truly understand

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Fantastic Book that Shifted My Perspective

I really enjoyed this book. I came out of it for a completely new and enlightened view of the Luftwaffe during WW2.

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