A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II

Adam Makos was born in 1981 and began publishing Valor as a teenager. He later expanded Valor into a full publishing company, Valor Studios, and authored several acclaimed works, including Devotion (2015), which was adapted into a 2022 film, and Spearhead (2019). Both works share A Higher Call’s emphasis on empathy and showcase Makos’s immersive research and novelistic technique.

Makos developed his storytelling style by interviewing hundreds of veterans, exploring military archives, and even flying in vintage aircraft to understand what these men experienced. His authorial approach is driven by a personal mission to preserve these stories before they vanish, treating even enemy characters not as caricatures but as complicated human beings. His nonfiction draws comparisons to works like Unbroken by like Laura Hillenbrand and Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose. Both works similarly combine popular history and literary nonfiction.

Makos spent eight years researching A Higher Call, interviewing Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler, and tracking down records across three continents to reconstruct their encounter. His collaboration with journalist Larry Alexander, who specializes in military biographies, adds further detail and stylistic immediacy.

Makos’s authorial narrator doesn’t take sides: He acknowledges the evils of the Nazi regime without demonizing individual soldiers who made human choices within that system.