HIGHER CALL

Higher call is a story of two WWII pilots (American and German) who met as adversaries over the skies of war torn Germany. The plot speaks of the events that transpired before and after their encounter and how the fate intervened to bring them together some forty six years later as thickest of friends. The story has been well researched and beautifully penned by Adam Makos. The author has been unbiased and true to the commitment of narrating the entire truth. Salute to Charlie Brown (the American protagonist) who urged Makos to study Franz Stigler (German protagonist) to do full justice with the project. It turned out to be a panoramic view into the psyche of legendary pilots of Luftwaffe (German Air Force). Often while reading I used to close the book and stare at the walls thinking how it would have been in those days. The entire world was burning in the fire of hate and we had some men who still believed in the code of Knights....for them the qualities of chivalry and camaraderie had more relevance than the dictates of lines on maps and the ambitions of their lunatic leaders. They did what was right....they did what was to be "A HIGHER CALL". If you are in a habit of highlighting the most heart provoking and touchy lines, then almost every page of this book will have pencil marks. Please read this book, you owe it to yourself and crew of "Ye Olde Pub" and almost the entire band of aces in Luftwaffe. Thank you Goodreads. This has been a finest book you recommended.

Diverging from the usual narrative of the allies being the good guys and the axis being the bad, this book really humanizes the war as it is being narrated from the perspectives of both sides. A real must read and had me hooked since the beginning.

Simply loved it.I feel it's a must read for all those who have one sided knowledge about WW2 .

Wonderful true story, well told

in war there are heroes on both sides but then often history is written by the victor so many stories of heroism get left out .

Fantastic book. Must read. Brilliant

EXCELLENT BOOK

“Gentlemanly War”… isn’t this an Oxymoron. I mean what could be gentlemanly when you are trying your best to kill your enemy, shoot bullets into him and make widows and orphans in the process. This is the extraordinary and unbelievable story of Lt. Franz Stigler of Luftwaffe and Lt. Charlie Brown of USAAF. Lt Franz spared the life of Charlie Brown’s crew on their 1st bombing run over Germany and let the plane fly back to England by shielding it thru German Flak. He could have got court martialed, may be shot had his chivalry towards the enemy got noticed by his superiors. “If I ever hear you shooting a downed pilot I will shoot you myself” the words of Franz’s CO Major Gustav Roedel were ringing in his ears when the saw the badly damaged American B17 bomber trying to make it back to England. Perhaps it was the dead tail gunner or the sight of Charlie’s crew trying to help their wounded that moved Franz’s heart. Or his COs words made him compare a downed parachutist with the damaged bomber crew. Whatever be the case Charlie and his crew owned their lives to Franz. While the Americans had to complete the requisite 25 missions before they were grounded same was not the case with Luftwaffe pilots who had to keep on flying till they died in combat, were injured or captured by the enemy. The camaraderie between a close knit squadron of pilots, the privations the Luftwaffe faced in African desert. The growing race to earn a Knights cross. The swashbuckling life of the legendary Lt. Hans Joachim Marseille and Franz’s posting from the sands of Africa to Sicily and eventually to Germany are covered in detail. There are several incidents throughout the book which will make you salute the ideals, ethics these brave pilots stood for and died. The fighter wing JG-77 of Major Johannes Macky Steinhoff lands at Sicily from Africa with their mechanics jam packed in the storage compartment of the fuselage. Instead of abandoning their mechanics these brave men had flown them to Sicily hidden in the claustrophobic compartments with no hope to wiggle and no parachute. The pilots of the planes which were shot down while crossing had bravely stayed with their planes rather than jump and leave their mechanics. Macky had a harrowing life on the Eastern Front and a particular incident is narrated in detail where he was in a dogfight with a Russian Pilot. The Russian’s plane was shot but he could not escape from his burning plane because of a jammed hood, rather than allowing him to be cooked alive Macky had no option but to shoot the Russian Pilot. He will never forget the eyes of the pilot before he shot him down. In another incident Major Gerd Barkhorn who signaled a downed Russian pilot to bail out (the pilot was expecting to be shot if he stood to jump) answered Eric Hartman question as to why he risked his life while flying alongside the enemy to convince him to bail out, “Bubi (Hartman’s nickname), the pilot was once some Russian mother’s loving toddler and he too has a right to live as we do. Slowly the tide of war turns against the Germans. Gen. Galland’s right hand man Col. Leutzow dies in combat. Franz’s despair on the death of his young pilots made him pass on his victories to them so that they will get motivated and their parents could at least feel proud. The two young pilots (featured in the book) didn’t make it through the war leaving behind grieving parents. From Lt Charlie Brown’s B17 crew you can feel the tension in the air as the crew pass with clockwork precision thru the morning routine right from the breakfast to the briefing room to the takeoff from the airfield. He loses one of his friends when two bombers collide during takeoff, several planes are lost in bombing runs. The lifelong agony of Franz agreeing to the request of one of his young pilots to fly at least one mission so that he could claim that he flew in combat with the famed JV-44, which eventually resulted in the plane crashing with the young pilot dying in Franz’s arms. The book is interspersed with several such instances. The book also highlights the growing disillusionment faced by Luftwaffe top brass over Goering’s high handedness towards the fighter squadrons. The top aces of Luftwaffe eventually join the JV-44 group led by Galland during the last defense of the Reich. The story of how Lt Franz and Charlie met after more than 50 years of that incident in the skies forms an interesting finale to this great book. Anything less than 5 stars to this book would be an insult to these brave gentlemen who answered their country’s call and took to the skies, many of them never to return. “War Is Hell” was painted on American GIs helmets during the Vietnam war. As I close this review I am reminded one of the lines from Alistair MacLeans “ San Andreas”…“Ethics take very much a back seat in War Captain… if there are any ethics in War”. This book my friends would make you think otherwise.

This book is so well written and impactful that I really wanted to make sure this review did it justice. I can totally understand why A Higher Call has mostly five-star reviews. This is perhaps one of the best books I have ever read, and to make it all the more so is the fact that it is true. The book combines an edge of your seat momentum, history (I never really looked at World War II from the eyes of the so-called enemy), human endurance, wisdom and honour. It also brings home the point that it’s not planes which were shot down but people - albeit in the planes or flying the planes but nonetheless people. The story of these two pilots is nothing short of remarkable and will leave an indelible impression and lesson on your mind. To be honest, this whole story is so striking it really makes you wonder how bomber and fighter pilots do what they do. But most of all, A Higher Call shows there was honour in the skies. If people today (or dare I say politicians) had but a fraction of these two gentlemens’ honour and integrity, truly it would be a different kind of world.

Gran historia. Recomiendo leerla

Son zamanlarda okuduğum en iyi anı kitaplarından biri. Aslında kitabın adı ve kapağı 2. dünya savaşında yaşanan eşine az rastlanır bir olay ile ilgili olsa da kitap çoğunlukla Alman as pilotu Franz Stigler'ın hikayesini anlatıyor. Son üçte Birlik kısım ise Amerikalı pilot Charlie Brown'a ve ikisinin kaderinin kesiştiği o güne ayrılmış. Bunun sebebini de kitabın henüz başında C. Brown çok güzel özetlemiş: "Ben bu hikayede sadece bir figüranım, asıl kahraman Franz Stigler'dır. Bu olayı asıl ondan dinlemeniz gerekir".

cheap & good book

A great book for anyone's library. True story of which I only read about on a news website 2 years ago. Paperback.