How to Read Adam Makos's Books
Unlike novelists who write multi-part fictional series with recurring characters and tight cliffhangers, military historian Adam Makos writes standalone works of narrative non-fiction. Each book focuses on a completely different set of real-life veterans, theaters of war, and military branches. Because there is no overarching story continuity linking them together, you do not need to worry about spoiling a previous book if you read them out of order.
However, choosing the right entry point can greatly enhance your appreciation of his signature "you-are-there" storytelling style. Depending on whether you prefer to follow the author's growth, read the events in the order they happened historically, or start with his most highly acclaimed masterpieces, there are three distinct reading paths you can follow.
1. The Recommended Path (Thematic Order)
If you want the ultimate reading experience, we recommend starting with his most narrative-driven and emotionally resonant books first, followed by his broader oral histories. This path showcases Makos at his storytelling peak:
- Start here: A Higher Call (2012). This is Makos's breakout masterpiece and the perfect introduction to his style. It reads like a cinematic thriller while exploring deep themes of honor and humanity across enemy lines.
- Next up: Devotion (2014). Transition from World War II to the Korean War to follow the powerful bond between two Navy pilots. Reading this second offers a refreshing change of setting and subject matter (naval aviation) while delivering another deeply personal character study.
- Then read: Spearhead (2019). Return to World War II, but swap the skies for the muddy ground as you follow an American tank crew. This book is his most action-packed work, delivering gritty, tactical details.
- Finish with: Voices of the Pacific (2013). This is an oral history compiled from interviews with fifteen different Marines. Because it lacks a single, central narrative arc and instead relies on a chorus of voices, it is best appreciated after you are already familiar with Makos's dedication to honoring veterans.
2. The Publication Order
Reading the books in the order they were published allows you to experience Adam Makos's evolution as a researcher and writer. Over the decade span of these works, his narrative style shifts from structured oral compilation to highly focused, dual-perspective biographies that read like novels.
- A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II (2012) – Co-authored with Larry Alexander.
- Voices of the Pacific: Untold Stories from the Marine Heroes of World War II (2013) – Compiled with Marcus Brotherton.
- Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice (2014) – Solo authored.
- Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives in World War II (2019) – Solo authored.
3. The Chronological Historical Order
For history buffs who want to follow the timeline of global conflicts, you can read the books according to when their historical events took place. This path starts with the early days of the Pacific theater, transitions to the air battle over Europe, moves to the final armored push into Germany, and concludes in the early 1950s in Korea.
- Voices of the Pacific (Covers 1941–1945): Follows the Marines from the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor through Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
- A Higher Call (Focuses on December 1943): Centered around a single legendary B-17 encounter over Germany, though it also traces the pilots' lives before the war and their decades-long postwar search to find one another.
- Spearhead (Covers late 1944–1945): Follows the armored invasion of Europe, culminating in the dramatic tank duel in the ruins of Cologne during the final months of the war.
- Devotion (Covers 1950–1953): Moves forward to the Korean War, detailing the Chosin Reservoir campaign and naval air operations off aircraft carriers.
Deep Dive into the Books
A Higher Call (2012)
Written alongside Larry Alexander, this book chronicles the incredible true story of Second Lieutenant Charlie Brown, an American B-17 bomber pilot, and Oberleutnant Franz Stigler, a German Luftwaffe fighter ace. In December 1943, Stigler was ordered to shoot down Brown's severely damaged bomber. Instead, he saw the wounded crew inside and chose to escort them safely to the North Sea. Makos spent eight years researching this book, interviewing both men before their deaths to reconstruct their lives, their combat missions, and their emotional reunion decades later.
Voices of the Pacific (2013)
For this book, Makos teamed up with collaborative writer Marcus Brotherton to gather the raw, unedited oral testimonies of fifteen U.S. Marines and Navy corpsmen who fought in the Pacific. Rather than focusing on grand strategy, the book presents chronological first-person vignettes that detail the brutal conditions, intense combat, and psychological toll of island hopping. It serves as an excellent companion piece to the HBO miniseries The Pacific.
Devotion (2014)
This solo work focuses on the deep friendship between Sub-Lieutenant Jesse Brown, the U.S. Navy's first Black carrier pilot, and Lieutenant Tom Hudner, a white New Englander from a privileged background. Flying combat missions from the USS Leyte during the Korean War, the two became close friends. When Brown was shot down behind enemy lines during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Hudner made the decision to crash-land his own plane next to Brown's in a desperate attempt to save him. The book explores race, duty, and sacrifice, and was adapted into a major motion picture in 2022.
Spearhead (2019)
In this book, Makos follows Clarence Smoyer, a gentle coal country teenager who became a gunner in a new American super-tank, the Pershing. The narrative takes readers into the claustrophobic, high-stakes world of tank warfare as Smoyer's crew pushes into Germany. The story builds toward a famous duel in Cologne against a German Panther tank, and explores how Smoyer and his German counterpart eventually met years later to find peace.
What to Know Before You Start
Adam Makos is famous for his hands-on research. He doesn't just read archives; he has flown in vintage B-17 bombers, interviewed veterans extensively, and traveled to historical battlefields, including a trip to North Korea in search of an MIA pilot's crash site. His books focus heavily on the shared humanity of soldiers on both sides of a conflict, emphasizing reconciliation and personal honor over political ideology.
If you plan to watch the film adaptation of Devotion, we highly recommend reading the book first. The book contains significantly more detail about Jesse Brown's early life, the intensive flight training programs of the era, and the deep bonds formed among the entire squadron of pilots during their deployment.