A Higher Call
{{Short description|Book about WWII combat incident}}
{{Infobox book
| name = A Higher Call
| image = A Higher Call.jpg
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| author = *Adam Makos
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| country = United States
| language = English
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| genre = History
| publisher = Berkley Books
| pub_date = 2012
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| pages = 400
| awards =
| isbn = 978-0-425-25286-4
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A Higher Call is a 2012 non-fiction book by Adam Makos with Larry Alexander, published by Berkley Books. It recounts the story of the Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident of 1943, which took place in the skies of Germany during the Second World War. In it, Franz Stigler, a German Luftwaffe fighter ace flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109, guided a severely damaged American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress out of German airspace after failing to persuade it to surrender, an act of chivalry.
The work is based on interviews with Stigler and Brown more than 50 years after the incident.
Publication
A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II was written by military historian Adam Makos with military writer Larry Alexander and published in 2012 by Berkley Books.{{cite journal |last1=Huddleston |first1=Robert |title=A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II |journal=Air Power History |date=2015 |volume=62 |pages=53–54 |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/4e1f18a9eff64220c7b11b3e60fd1bc3/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=779}}{{cite journal |last1=Ward II |first1=Thomas E. |title=A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of Wo |journal=Air University |date=14 May 2014 |url=https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/ASPJ/Book-Reviews/Article/1139173/a-higher-call-an-incredible-true-story-of-combat-and-chivalry-in-the-war-torn-s/}} It has 400 pages, and includes photographs, notes and a bibliography.{{cite journal |last1=McConnell |first1=Richard A. |title=A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II |journal=Air Power History |date=2014 |volume=61 |issue=3 |page=55 |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/0ea048e1911ce16edbc8e2d46ca7ab5d/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=779 |language=en}} There is no index.
Background
Makos is editor of a military history magazine, Valor.{{cite magazine |last1=Thompson |first1=Mark |title=A Christmas Story, But Not by Charles Dickens |url=https://nation.time.com/2012/12/20/a-christmas-story-but-not-by-charles-dickens/ |magazine=Time |date=20 December 2012}} He writes regularly about the Second World War and as in the book, he relates some of his work to his own life changing experiences.{{cite journal |last1=Steward |first1=Marcia Reyes |title=A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II |journal=The Army Lawyer |date=December 2014 |volume=20 |page=20 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/armylaw2014&div=121&id=&page=}} He describes the book title as "one man's humanity over his nationality".{{cite book |last1=Willis |first1=R. Wayne |title=Hope's Daughters: A Helping a Day of Wisdom and Hope |date=2014 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-62564-787-0 |page=322 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yKQBAAAQBAJ&dq=charlie+brown+1943+pilot+stigler&pg=PA322|language=en}}
Summary
A Higher Call is a story about chivalry; it tells the story about Franz Stigler, a German fighter ace of the Luftwaffe pilot who flew a Messerschmitt Bf 109, and Charlie Brown, a 21-year-old American pilot of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress named 'Ye Olde Pub'. On 20 December 1943, following a bombing mission over Germany, the severely damaged American aircraft was approached by Stigler whilst attempting to fly to England from Berlin. Stigler's duty was to destroy the American aircraft, but after seeing the wounded crew, instead flew in formation and guided it away from Germany after failing to persuade it to surrender. The book begins with Makos's account of his own experiences, research and how he interviewed the two veterans more than 50 years after the incident and after they had reunited in the 1980s.{{cite book |last1=Makos |first1=Adam |last2=Alexander |first2=Larry |title=A higher call |date=2013 |publisher=Berkley Books |isbn=9780425252864 |oclc=791682283 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/791682283 |language=English}} In his experience this is one of several similar stories.{{cite news |last1=Blake |first1=John |title=Two enemies discover a 'Higher Call' in battle |url=http://stealthskater.com/Documents/Honor_01.pdf |access-date=22 October 2021 |publisher=CNN |date=9 March 2013}} He explains in the first chapter that before meeting Brown, he would never have interviewed or written about a German fighter pilot. It is followed by the story of Stigler's early life, training in flying and Stigler's account of post-war Germany. It also covers how Stigler went from surveying flight routes for Luft Hansa to training pilots for the Luftwaffe, including his brother August, who experienced a fatal crash.
How Stigler and Brown later reunited is discussed near the end of the book.
Reception
In 2013, Higher Call featured on The New York Times Best Seller list.{{cite news |title=Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - Books - Feb. 3, 2013 - The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2013/02/03/hardcover-nonfiction/ |access-date=23 October 2021 |work=The New York Times}} In 2014, the book appeared on Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force Mark Welsh's recommended reading list.{{cite web |title=A Higher Call |url=https://static.dma.mil/usaf/csafreadinglist_2014/a-higher-call.html |website=static.dma.mil |access-date=24 October 2021}} A review appeared in The Times of London.{{cite news|last1=Glancy|first1=Josh|date=1 September 2013|title=A Higher Call by Adam Makos with Larry Alexander|language=en|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/a-higher-call-by-adam-makos-with-larry-alexander-0q3t8rr2dsf|url-access=subscription|access-date=25 October 2021}}
In a review in Air Power History, the book is noted to give an understanding of doing the right thing "especially when no-one is watching".
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://adammakos.com/a-higher-call-book.html A Higher Call by Adam Makos]
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Category:2012 non-fiction books
Category:American non-fiction literature