BONHOEFFER Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

Raised in a strict German family, Dietrich Bonhoeffer studied at prestigious schools and later became a Lutheran pastor, theologian, and, finally, a martyr. The National Socialist policy of hatred against Jews led him to join the Nazi resistance and then to a plot to murder the Fürher. The biography contains large doses of religious doctrine and history necessary to understand how Bonhoeffer came to the beliefs that put his life in peril. In English, narrator Malcolm Hillgartner speaks forcefully and slowly. He avoids any characterizations in the quotations, instead reading them straight from the page. While neither perfectly pronounced nor perfectly consistent, weaknesses in his delivery of German should not distract most listeners from this important life story. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2011]