About The Book:

This is an incredible story about a bomber crew shot down in enemy territory. The crewmembers made a heroic run for freedom, a run that bonded them in life and death.

Their implausible run covered several hundred miles.

They walked over the steep mountains of Yugoslavia, through the German-held valleys of a dangerous land divided into vicious guerrilla warfare.

Bands of guerrillas fought for their own causes; it was impossible to tell the enemy from a friend.

Their marathon ended thirty-four days after they were shot down over Steyr, Austria.

There were days of starvation, exhaustion, snow, sunshine and lice.

Some of them made it through despite impossible odds.

Others did not.

None of them knew their fate as they made their way through a land of people who spoke a language that they could not understand.

This is a story that recounts human tragedy and captures the triumph of the human spirit.

Award wining author, Nikos Ligidakis, born and raised in Greece, came to America in 1969, at the age of twenty-four.

While in America, he began to write with clarity and passion in an ardent voice for all people everywhere who find themselves called to join in the eternal struggle for life and freedom.

In his award-winning book, The Last Mission Ligidakis introduced a hero in a fascinating story of survival during World War II. This incredible story narrates this hero's freedom run of hundreds of miles in enemy territory full of danger, exhaustion, starvation, and death.

His latest book, Power and Defiance, is a labor of love, a nearly 800-page book about the integrity of individual freedom and the intense struggle for social justice. Such deep matters require not only the profound thoughts in the writing, but also equal reflective thoughts in the reading. The reader will find such thoughts throughout the pages of Power and Defiance, and hopefully will be challenged to recognize the heroism of those individuals who are perceived to be ordinary and simultaneously re-examine the character of those who proclaim themselves to be righteous and just.

Today Nikos devotes his life to coaching new authors encouraging and assisting them to write and publish their books. His publishing company, Inkwell Productions, has attracted numerous new and published authors and it's rapidly becoming a significantly growing influence in changing the traditional face of publishing.
Nikos has founded several charitable organizations with the most notable his Thanksgiving Project to Feed the Hungry, a program that provided food to tens of thousands during its 21-year run. His selfless work with people has earned him several humanitarian awards over the years.

Ligidakis lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and has three children and six grandchildren.