Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Spoke in the Wheel

by Renate Wind

Book Overview

Vividly and concisely written, critical as well as appreciative, and containing material never before published in English, this new biography paints a memorable portrait of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great German theologian hanged by the Nazis in 1945. Portraying the complexity of Bonhoeffer's personality and the difficult, lonely course his life took, Wind especially brings out Bonhoeffer's early realization of the horror of Nazi treatment of the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802806325
• ISBN13: 9780802806321
• Release Date: April 1992
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Short bio on Bonhoeffer

This was the book I picked up in the bookstore of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC after a tour of the museum and memorial. I wanted to learn more about the German theologian who was one of the most outspoken Protestant Germans to resist the Fuhrer's takeover of Germany and most of Europe. As other reviewers have stated, this is a short, informative biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. If someone is looking, as I was, for an overview of the main events and themes of his life, this is a good place to start. It is hardly a definitive work, but measures up to being a good starting point. The author's writing style is somewhat stilted in many places, making the flow jerky and confusing in points. However, the end flows more smoothly and overall, the book gives readers a enough of an overview to where they can go look for other sources that dig deeper.

Easy to understand, thorough biograph

This biography was easy to read, yet a thorough and complete picture of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life. It high lighted the most esential parts, and quotes, of his life and theology. I truly appreciated it and am sharing it with others.

The Masquerade of Evil

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Spoke In The Whell, is an excellent book and great biography. This book is a great gift if you want to introduce someone to this life of integrity. The book, translated into English from German, succesfully documents the important aspects of Bonhoeffer's short life: Early chilhood, theology studies, visitation of America, and return to Germany to resist Nazi rule. The book is an easy read and therefore, doesn't over burder the reader who may be introduced to this subject for the first time.We discover the formatative development of the Confessing Church and the differences many of its members had on how to best oppose the Third Riech. We see Bonhoeffer as the voice of justice in this group as well as a voice of liberity throughout his life. I chose as my title "The Masquerade of Evil" from a chapter in the book because we also see how many citizens in German soceity fall to the evils of Nazism and support its cause. The reader is then moved to a sense of sadness, but vicarious courage, as we live the last years of Bonhoeffer's life in prison. Finally, we read about the death of Bonhoeffer and are moved that a life, so brave, ended so young.