Great story of a German pilot who did NOT shoot down a wounded American plane in world war II and how the men ended up meeting each other 50 years later. Most of the book was about the German pilot and what he went through during the war. And that was really interesting to read about. Author did a nice job researching the story ( )

I think the title of this book should be, "Franz Stigler, German WWII Air Ace." The description of the actual encounter between the Me 109 pilot and the B-17 crew takes only a few pages in the middle of the book. And, unusually for this sort of book, there's very little background of the American pilot & crew. But we learn all about the early life of Franz, all the places he flew in WWII, the different aircraft he flew, how the war ended for him, what happened to him after the war. So if you are looking for a description of a German WWII Lufwaffe pilot, search no further, this is a gold mine. If you are sucked in by the cover and want to read a blow-by-blow description of an encounter between a Me 109 and a B-17, read the middle and skip the rest. ( )

https://www.instagram.com/p/69xoGmTKP9/ ( )

It is almost impossible to describe the range of emotional responses reading this story invoked within me. As a patriotic American and the great-grandson of German immigrants to America, this story touched me on many levels.

This is the story of two men, pilots in their respective country’s air forces, meeting in a chance encounter in the skies over Germany. This meeting would eventually go down in history as one of the most amazing tales of World War II.

I stayed on the edge of my seat reading this story. It was very hard to put down even when I needed to. It was like I became Lieutenant Charlie Brown and the fate of ‘Ye Olde Pub” and the B-17’s crew was in my hands. I also became the pilot of the ME-109, torn between my humanity and the orders of the Nazis government that I secretly despised. We do not hear the words combat and chivalry used in the same sentence these days.

I became totally engrossed in the characters on both sides! This book made me wince. At times it made me chuckle. In addition, this story tugged at my heart and there were several times it even brought a tear to my eye. ( )

As someone who lost family in the Holocaust, I have alwYs viewed German World War II military personnel with a very jaundiced eye. It is refreshing to know that there were many anti-Nazis who did their job because they were defending their homeland, not because of political ideology. This book is a moving and refreshing view of an honorable man who committed an honorable act. ( )

Great book. Enjoyed it immensely. ( )

An extraordinary and moving story of two World War II aviators and how their paths met in scarcely believable circumstances in December 1943. Makos retails the human stories powerfully and his descriptions of aerial combat are among the best I have read. Very highly recommended. ( )

Military/War isn’t my usual interest, but this book is as much about humanity as war. Both of my grandfathers were WWII fighter pilots so I did enjoy learning a bit about the experience. The story revolves around two different pilots, one German, one American, who had a life-changing chance encounter in WWII. Their story is so interesting and improbable, it’s genuinely riveting. Their individual stories are told simultaneously but separately throughout the book except for the very short time they overlapped. Both accounts are very well researched, with intricate details and specifics. In fact my only complaint is that there might be too much detail. The first 2/3 were incredibly interesting but there were about 50 pages in the middle that didn’t keep my interest because it just got to be too many missions and battles. The brutalities of the war were emotionally taxing, especially since it’s told from both sides’ POV. The end made up for the slow middle section. Overall, a good read, well-written and improbably amazing story. 4.5/5 stars ⭐️ only because I found myself skimming some of the missions toward the end of the war. If you love military history though, this book is for you. ( )

Five days before Christmas 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. Suddenly a German Messerschmitt fighter pulled up on the bomber's tail - the German pilot was an ace, a man able to destroy the American bomber with the squeeze of a trigger. This is the true story of the two pilots whose lives collided in the skies that day - the American - 2nd Lieutenant Charlie Brown and the German - 2nd Lieutenant Franz Stigler. Years later both men start to search for the other and 46 years later find one another and learn why each man did what he did that day.
a biography of both pilots and in the German flier's case, Franz Stigler, a history of Germany and its air force under the control of the Nazi regime. Descriptions of the consequences of flying accidents are graphically described. As Stigler, flew the ME-262, we are given a vivid description of what it was like to fly early jets and the immense risk a pilot took to do so.
Stigler was one of Germany's greatest aces and he knew and flew with all the great German aces such as Galland, Steinhoff, and Backhorn.

""Do you really want the whole story about what happened to me and my crew?" Charlie asked… I was about to make excuses and tell Charlie I had little interest in a German fighter pilot's perspective, when he said something that shut me up. "In this story," Charlie said, "I'm just a character – Franz Stigler is the real hero."" (pg. 5)

A Higher Call is one of the most remarkable true stories from World War Two I've heard (and that's a very competitive field). I don't want to retell it here myself, because it really deserves the attention author Adam Makos has given it in this book, but essentially it revolves around an incident in the skies over Germany in late 1943. A crippled American B-17 bomber is spared (and saved) by the German ace fighter pilot who intercepts it. There is more to it than that, and the blow-by-blow account Makos gives us only makes us realize how astounding the encounter really was, but – like I said – it deserves Makos' careful unfolding of the story rather than any brief summary I could give.

Even a great story needs to be told right if it is to be effective and it is to Makos' great credit that he has done so. Before reading it, I had wondered how a single short wartime encounter could be spun into a 400-page book, and if it were not for all the glowing reviews I would have suspected a good deal of padding. But there is none, and though the actual aerial encounter takes place over only a few chapters in the middle of the book, all the prior information is essential in understanding the German pilot's motivations on that day, and all the stuff that follows it is a sweet payoff, particularly the reunion in 1990 of the German fighter pilot and the American bomber pilot he saved.

Makos, a first-time published author (though he is the editor of a respected military magazine), handles the story deftly. Alongside dedicated research, he neatly mixes the story with facts on the larger air war to provide context: exactly how popular history should be written. It never once flags and is a joy to read, hitting the perfect tone throughout. A Higher Call doesn't play up any religious angle – despite the title – and doesn't make a mountain out of the German pilot's Catholicism. Similarly, the de-Nazification of the Germans is done tastefully, by letting small, quiet moments of humanity and moral principle shine through, rather than any tone-deaf "We were victims of Hitler, too" approach. There is much to admire here in Makos' writing, which does all this without distorting or interfering at all with the story it is telling.

It is just a beautiful story, done justice by its author, with a very human theme that allows a German to be the hero of a World War Two story, and rightfully so, because the book compels you to view the people involved as individuals rather than uniforms. There is a profound sense of quiet nobility and selfless co-operation that emerges, and of simple humanity; a message the book brings home in its perfect final line, which really capstones the story. A Higher Call stands out in a crowded field, and it is a book it is impossible to be cynical about. ( )

On December 20, 1943, an American B-17 is trying to escape a mauling by FW-190's and ME-109's to reach the North Sea and eventually its base in England. As they approach the coast and the flack batteries while flying slowly and at low altitude, an additional terror comes from behind. A Me-109 closes in for the kill but their tail gunner is dead and only one turret is working.

The German flier does not shoot as he sees their plane is missing its rudder, most of its stabilizers and has holes all over the fuselage include its front perspex shot away. He can see wounded men through the holes and one engine is dead and others seem to be damaged. He wonders, "How is this plane flying?' After failing to make the American pilot understand he wants him to land in Germany or Sweden, he salutes him and turns back into Germany.

The bomber struggles across the water with its wounded and is eventually is found by friendly P-47's who guide it to a an American base where it lands safely. This was the crews first mission.

Years later both men start to search for the other and 46 years later find one another and learn why each man did what he did that day.

Most of the book is a biography of both pilots and in the German flier's case, Franz Stigler, a history of Germany and its air force under the control of the Nazi regime. Descriptions of the consequences of flying accidents are graphically described. As Stigler, flew the ME-262, we are given a vivid description of what it was like to fly early jets and the immense risk a pilot took to do so.

Stigler was one of Germany's greatest aces and he knew and flew with all the great German aces such as Galland, Steinhoff, and Backhorn. He moved to Canada in the 1950's to work on the Avro Arrow but could not get security clearance so he became a diesel mechanic in the British Columbia forest industry.

There are some incidents described in which some of the German fliers took great risks in sometimes challenging Hitler and Goering by not following their orders. Five of the top pilots at one point, demanded Goering resign because he was not supplying enough equipment and fuel to the fighter squadrons to battle the bombers. After the meeting, they all awaited the SS to show up to shoot them.

Through the descriptions of what their families experienced from the bombing and food shortages, the fliers give us a bleak picture of life in Germany after 1942. ( )

Generally don't read military aviation non-fiction, but the book jacket summary convinced me to take a chance. Turned out to be a pretty good book about the experiences of 2 pilots leading to their chance interaction in the skies over Northern Germany during WWII and afterwards. The background story of Franz Stigler (the German pilot) was well written and very interesting. Includes happenings that bring out his moral character. Most of the book was focused on Stigler's life. Perhaps 20-30 pages were dedicated to the American pilot (Charlie Brown). Seemed like an imbalance.

I noted that the story line and background of Brown seemed to be written in a different style from Stigler's. I felt like a different person wrote that part. Less detail and drier.

I found the last 25 pages of reading very interesting. This part dealt with how the 2 pilots sought to find each other even though they had no idea about the person other than their chance air encounter. When they actually found each other, shared correspondence and finally met, I almost had tears in my eyes as I read. Not many non-fiction books can do that to me. Powerful reading at the end.

I would recommend this for reading. I learned some interesting facts and history about German fighter aviation during the war. ( )

I'm thankful to the authors for being in the right place at the right time to unearth this story, and to do justice to it.. I appreciated the in depth research they did into the background of the two soldiers. The singular event changed their lives in significant ways, and knowing a bit about who they were leading up to the event added to the story. The tale of their reunion was heartwarming. I still need to go to the author's website to watch the video. An amazing book of an amazing tale. ( )

This was a really interesting book about the lives of two fighter pilots, one American and one German, who met in the skies during WWII and lived to tell about it. ( )

Really an excellent book. Written by a journalist it is a bit light on documentation but the story is a powerful one of courage and dedication to a cause. The inside look at the German Air Force during WWII was fascinating. For the concept of chivalry to remain so strong while in the midst of the "total war" of the 1940's is amazing. I learned a lot about the very early days of jet powered combat aircraft. The emotional reunion of the two pilots so long after the war reads like a Hollywood script. Maybe someday we will see this story on the "big screen". ( )

A dual biography of Franz Stigler (ME-109 pilot) and Charlie Brown, (B-17 pilot.) The two meet over Germany and both survive to the end of the war and meet nearly 50 years later. The story includes a very personal look at the air war over Europe and Africa and how the German people lived their lives during the war, under Hitler and Goering. It's mostly about Stigler. Like "Panzer Commander" by Hans von Luck, it added credence to the German fighting man's perspective of WWII...much like any soldier's perspective...in it for our country, for our buddies....not the political leadership.The book was recommended to me as a could-not-put-it-down read by an introspective US Marine... ( )

A dual biography of Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown, M109/ME 262 pilot and B-17 pilot. The reason for the story was an incident where Brown and his crew were incredibly shot up. Stigler intercepted alone after Brown managed to escape a bevy of fighters and the drop zone with all it's flack. But, Brown still needed to get over the coast flack batteries and he had lost a lot of altitude he could not regain. Stigler intercepted, saw the incredible amount of damage, the wounded men, and that the plane was defenseless before him. Instead of shooting them down he dropped in formation wing to wing and flew them over the flack batteries so they would not shoot when they saw it was shepherded by a German fighter plane. Because of his actions Brown's crew lived through the war except for one man was had already been killed.

The above forms the reason the book was written when the men met each other 47 years later and the story broke in the media. But the book is much more than just this incident. Stigler had an amazing fighter pilot career and flew with, and instructed some of the best in Africa, Italy, and Germany. He was an ace several times over. Brown also continued to fly and his story is interesting but he was never in the same high level positions as Stigler.

Did Stigler do the right thing? You might think you know the answer. But, reading the book will provide the facts from Stigler's and Brown's perspective to decide. ( )

The germ of a this book was a magazine article. There was a lot of technical information -as someone who is not savvy about the different airplanes, it took a long time to get to the event of December 20 and even more time for these men to finally meet.

It was a slow, but interesting story. ( )

Inspiring true war story of protection and ultimately personal friendship.

This is a great book about a little known event that occurred during bomber war over Europe prior to the D-Day invasion of WWII. German fighter aircraft tired to exterminate Allied bombers. This was a no holds barred no quarter given battle to the death. In this fight an American bomber was shot up and at the mercy of an ace German fighter pilot seeking revenge. This is the story of what happened during the encounter and what happened afterward. This is a n amazingly well written biography of two enemies, armies. The story includes a very personal look at the air war over Europe and Africa.
The book will appeal to people interested pre war Germany. Those interested interested the attitudes of the German professional solider and those interested the air tactic and performance of the aircraft of the period. This is a book worth buying. ( )

Primarily the story of a German fighter Ace during WW2 this books centers around an incident in which Franz Stigler flying an FW 109 spares a defenseless B-17 with Charlie Brown as the pilot returning from a mission over Germany. It chronicals both pilots lives during and after the war but the focus is on Stigler. A first rate story. ( )

Read it! Awesome. How often I've wished for some German history in my WWII readings. This is a great story. Even though the "higher call" climax is just one chapter, Franz's life and history with the German Luftwaffe was incredible to hear and really does give pause to the overall Germans-all-bad, Americans-all-good ideas of that time. I wish we had more tales from the German point of view spoken in English. Funny, I had put this book at the bottom of my read list because the storyline itself sounded a little ...um... non-exciting? or I don't know... just seemed like there were probably lots of Germans and Americans who were good people and helped each other out. Turned out this is a fabulous book and an easy read. Great narrator too. If I could give it more stars I would. ( )

A wonderful job of research into the lives of two men who were thrust together in war and managed to survive under incredible circumstances. Hard to believe that it all happened and was recorded. It gives authentic, behind the scenes peeks into the real lives of fighter pilots during WWII and the humanity that existed on both sides. ( )

great book - incredible story. gave me new insight to the other side of the war ( )

By far an amazing true story of two 'enemies' during WWII. BUT it is also much more. The author does a wonderful job detailing the war and the many other people that are part of this story. I appreciated how he reminded the reader of the chronology of the war and these two pilots, so you don't get lost.
The author researched this story with great attention to detail and it shows. He adds many 'nuggets of interest' that he could only get by visiting and interviewing the people that played a part. The book easily held my interest to the point I was sad for it to end. Definitely looking forward to the next book by Makos. ( )