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AudioBook information:
Author: Adam Makos
Narrated by: Ben Phelps
Release date: November 3, 2026
Audiobook Duration: 14 h 41 min

Summary: From the author of the New York Times bestsellers A Higher Call, Spearhead, and Devotion comes an astonishing true story set in an untold arena of World War II.

“Tidal Wave is epic in every way. Like all good WWII books, it reminds us again, in the starkest terms possible, how much we owe to those who won that war.”—Daniel James Brown, author of The Boys in the Boat

It’s summer 1943, and the world is on fire.

Lieutenant Ernie Poulson, a twenty-two-year-old outdoorsman from Utah, finds himself at the controls of America’s most advanced bomber, the B-24, brought to North Africa for a top-secret mission.

On the far side of Europe, Lieutenant Constantin Cantacuzino, Romania’s most daring ace, duels Soviet fighters on the Eastern Front while searching for purpose in an unwinnable war.

In Nazi-aligned Romania, Princess Catherine Caradja walks a perilous line between loyalty to her country and quiet defiance, as German forces dig in around the oil refineries in her backyard.

And in the royal palace, twenty-one-year-old King Michael of Romania—mocked and sidelined by a Nazi-backed dictator—quietly plots to seize his nation’s destiny before it is lost forever.

In Tidal Wave, Adam Makos brings these lives together in a sweeping saga of courage and survival, set against history’s most audacious air raid: the treetop assault on “Hitler’s gas station” at Ploesti, Romania. What begins in flames on August 1, 1943, sparks bonds no one could have foreseen—alliances between enemies—that will decide whether these men and women are consumed by war, or seize their chance at escape and redemption.

Drawn from years of extensive research and told with Makos’s signature cinematic intensity, Tidal Wave will remind you that even in war’s darkest hours, humanity has a way of breaking through.


* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF containing select photographs from the book.

Reviews:

“Tidal Wave is epic in every way. I was swept away from the moment I opened the book. It’s a terrific story masterfully told—one I won’t soon forget, and neither will you. And like all good WWII books, it reminds us again, in the starkest terms possible, how much we owe to those who won that war. . . . Highly recommended.”—Daniel James Brown, author of The Boys in the Boat

“Tidal Wave is the kind of historical nonfiction that you can’t believe really happened . . . A pivotal moment in 1943 that involves a crucial air raid on ‘Hitler’s gas station.’ Even for WWII history buffs, this book will prove unique, gripping, and unforgettable.”—Men’s Journal

“In Tidal Wave, Makos delivers pulse-pounding nonfiction written with the intellect of a great historian and the heart of a great storyteller. Join B-24 copilot Ernie Poulson on the most daring air mission of WWII: the Ploesti raid on Hitler’s biggest source of oil. Makos puts you in the bomber cockpit, then takes the story where you can’t believe it could go. . . . An absolute must-read.”—A. J. Baime, New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental President

“How does Makos find these stories? Tidal Wave is a triumph of narrative nonfiction. Buckle up. You’re in for one incredible ride into a little-known theater of World War II.”—Eric Blehm, New York Times bestselling author of Fearless

“Tidal Wave is Makos’s best book yet, a superb achievement, and a beautiful, utterly gripping story of heroism in the air and on the ground, of humanity transcending evil in the worst of times. Don’t miss this one—a genuine blockbuster, the best history of the year.”—Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The Liberator

“Makos writes with the pace of The Great Escape and the compassion of a writer who never loses sight of the people behind the history. Tidal Wave is a compelling reminder that there still are refreshing, uplifting, heartfelt stories to tell from history’s most destructive war.”—Robert M. Edsel, author of The Monuments Men

About the Author:

Hailed by the Associated Press as “a masterful storyteller,” Adam Makos is the New York Times bestselling author of A Higher Call, Spearhead, and Devotion—now a major motion picture starring Glen Powell. Inspired by his grandfathers’ service, Makos crafts unforgettable stories of America’s veterans, blending raw human drama with vivid, close-up military action. The Los Angeles Times places him “in the top ranks of military writers,” a title earned through immersive research that has taken him from flying a World War II bomber to embedding on a Special Forces raid in Iraq and even journeying into North Korea in search of a missing American aviator.