What do you think?
Rate this book
Freedom Flight: A True Account of the Cold War's Greatest Escape
A riveting account of a daring escape from Communist Hungary in a twin-engine “I couldn’t put it down” —San Diego Union-Tribune. On the rainy afternoon of Friday, July 13, 1956, seven desperate young people boarded a twin engine DC-3 in the People’s Republic of Hungary, with the intention of diverting it to West Germany. They had no weapons, no map, and no idea whether the plane carried enough fuel to get them there. They would have to brave the gun of the security officer on board, the wild maneuvers of the pilot, the Russian MiG fighters in hot pursuit, and a harrowing flight over the stormy Alps, without navigation. Failure would mean certain death. And a spectacular escape from tyranny was born . . .
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
303 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 2, 2011
18 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 4, 2020
“Tyranny doesn’t start with the gulags and gas chambers, it ends with them.”
Thrilling tale of a group of young people brought together by the very government that oppressed them. Their flight from Communist-controlled Hungary to West Germany in 1956 is the stuff of legends. The tyranny of totalitarians regimes is still with us; history repeats, even with variations.
“But God was omnipotent and His Ways could be strange and unpredictable. He had the answer. He was just holding it back.”
Iszak then and now credits divine intervention for their success. He gives sufficient detail that skeptics can draw their own conclusions.
“I was thinking last night. If we make love, I can’t wear a white wedding dress when we get married. Hmmm, I thought. Then I kind of mentally inventoried my wardrobe at home, and I realized that I don’t even have a white dress. On top of that, you never asked to marry me anyway, did you?” Iszak’s future wife.
I am wary of “true” stories first told over fifty years after the fact. Too convenient for potential inventors. Iszak admits he changes some names and provides basic documentation that the escape really happened. For the details we must trust him.
“The Kremlin-controlled media behind the Iron Curtain referred to the event as ‘Air Piracy’. They would have called it hijacking, but no one had coined the word yet.” Hijacking was in use long before. He refers to Skyjacking.
“For seven just-liberated slaves, the sun had risen for the second time that day. This time in the West.”
Thrilling tale of a group of young people brought together by the very government that oppressed them. Their flight from Communist-controlled Hungary to West Germany in 1956 is the stuff of legends. The tyranny of totalitarians regimes is still with us; history repeats, even with variations.
“But God was omnipotent and His Ways could be strange and unpredictable. He had the answer. He was just holding it back.”
Iszak then and now credits divine intervention for their success. He gives sufficient detail that skeptics can draw their own conclusions.
“I was thinking last night. If we make love, I can’t wear a white wedding dress when we get married. Hmmm, I thought. Then I kind of mentally inventoried my wardrobe at home, and I realized that I don’t even have a white dress. On top of that, you never asked to marry me anyway, did you?” Iszak’s future wife.
I am wary of “true” stories first told over fifty years after the fact. Too convenient for potential inventors. Iszak admits he changes some names and provides basic documentation that the escape really happened. For the details we must trust him.
“The Kremlin-controlled media behind the Iron Curtain referred to the event as ‘Air Piracy’. They would have called it hijacking, but no one had coined the word yet.” Hijacking was in use long before. He refers to Skyjacking.
“For seven just-liberated slaves, the sun had risen for the second time that day. This time in the West.”
December 16, 2011
I know Frank. I know him as the strictest Pilates teacher ever. Who knew that he had this amazing life?!! No wonder he's such a stickler for precision! Very well written. An amazing story.
January 16, 2019
Escape from Hungary Story
This is an interesting book. The author tells the story of seven people who flew to West Germany on a DC 8, a commercial plane. The escapees did not plan carefully, but were helped along by internal problems in Hungary. They were surprised by their success
This is an interesting book. The author tells the story of seven people who flew to West Germany on a DC 8, a commercial plane. The escapees did not plan carefully, but were helped along by internal problems in Hungary. They were surprised by their success
February 5, 2019
knuckle biting. So much could have gone wrong. Saved by fortunate circumstances from military distracted by overthrow of Hungarian leader to the only plane with a plywood door into the cockpit. Only a few months later Hungarian Revolution broke out. First international news I followed. Still remember photos from Life of teenagers throwing Molotov cocktails at Russian tanks.
June 23, 2019
Historical event recalled
Loved reading of this first air hijack to freedom. Especially interesting was author’s narration of how communism affected the common Hungarian & his wandering employment to remain out of reach of the “officials.”
Loved reading of this first air hijack to freedom. Especially interesting was author’s narration of how communism affected the common Hungarian & his wandering employment to remain out of reach of the “officials.”
August 3, 2019
An excellent and nail biting read! I learned so much about Communism in Hungary after WWII, and the despair people were forced to live in, causing some to escape. Couldn’t put down the book towards the end!
October 21, 2013
This is a gripping thriller that tells the story of seven Hungarians desperate to leave the country which has now been tightly bound behind the communist Iron Curtain. The story of the hijacking, and the back-story, are both very interesting. I only put this book down when forced to. I came across the book because I am acquainted with the wife of George, who was the pilot. The Kindle edition I am reading seems to be very poorly edited - many typos, grammatical errors, run-on sentences, and incomplete sentences, often forcing me to re-read a sentence. Normally I have a difficult time overlooking such things but it did not hinder my reading at all in this instance (beyond my mental editing while reading along!). I highly recommend this book, not because of my friend, but because it is a fascinating read and because in many ways the description of life in Hungary serves as a cautionary tale about communism and socialism, which I see as grave dangers in the modern world.
March 28, 2016
True story of one of the very first hijackings of a commercial airplane. The author and his associates escaped from communistic Hungary in 1956.
This a very personal book. Most of the book, and the most interesting parts are about the author's life as a child and young adult, during the war and then under the communist government. The events, astounding as they are, are narrated very matter-of-factly, with a very personal voice. The writing style is unusual --- perhaps it should have had more editing, but the unconventional narration adds to the authenticity.
It's a very interesting read.
This a very personal book. Most of the book, and the most interesting parts are about the author's life as a child and young adult, during the war and then under the communist government. The events, astounding as they are, are narrated very matter-of-factly, with a very personal voice. The writing style is unusual --- perhaps it should have had more editing, but the unconventional narration adds to the authenticity.
It's a very interesting read.
July 22, 2019
A daring escape from Communist Hungary by seven souls brave enough to escape OVER the Iron Curtain by hijacking an Hungarian Air passenger plane, on July 13, 1956!! One of the hijackers was a former Hungarian Air Force pilot who took over the controls, not knowing how much fuel they had or without any navigation aids. If they were forced to crash land before clearing the border, they would face certain death sentences(if they survived the crash)!
This is a thrilling story of disparate choices!
This is a thrilling story of disparate choices!
December 13, 2012
This was interesting, but if it weren't for the circumstances, I probably wouldn't have finished it. I picked it up because I was house sitting and had no books with me. This looked to be the most interesting option at the house.
July 10, 2012
This book needed proof-reading before printing. Tons of grammar problems but a riveting read for me still.
September 24, 2015
Rollicking good true adventure read.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews