  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 07/01/2016 Gr 5 Up—McCormick provides a very readable account of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life, from his wealthy childhood in Berlin to his death at the hands of the Nazis in 1945. Readers learn of Bonhoeffer's family, childhood, talent as a piano prodigy, and eventual calling to become a minister. He traveled to Spain, the United States, and England as he tried to reconcile his deep faith with the growing Nazi threat at home. Ultimately, though he had pacifist views, Bonhoeffer joined the German effort to assassinate Hitler. Despite the title, McCormick omits many details in the conspiracy. The focus is primarily on Bonhoeffer and his personal struggles. However, this account of his life is interesting and enlightening. Michael J. Martin's Champion of Freedom: Dietrich Bonhoeffer is more comprehensive, but McCormick's is a more compelling read. VERDICT An appealing narrative suited for students interested in history but not quite ready for heavy analysis.—Margaret Nunes, Gwinnett County Public Library, GA - Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2016 Born too late to take part in World War I, Dietrich Bonhoeffer didn’t follow the eldest Bonhoeffer boys into battle. Smart, but with a touch of dreaminess, he also wasn’t cut out for the professional life (psychiatry, law, business, etc.) that his parents and siblings embraced. A desire to be of use to the less fortunate led him into ministry, where he developed his vision of the church as a force for social good rather than merely a sectarian institution. While he moved between scholarly studies at home and in America, he became ever more sensitive to the plight of Jews and other marginalized groups as Hitler rose to power, and against the orders of both Church and government, he refused to pledge loyalty to the Reichskirche, the officially sanctioned religion of Nazi Germany. His brother Klaus and several in-laws, all with jobs that made them privy to Nazi policy and planning, shared his aversion to Hitler, but while Dietrich wrestled with intellectual demons, his relatives formed concrete plans to assassinate the Führer and looked to Dietrich for ethical guidance. Readers lured to this volume by the conspiracy-infused title will find less about the plot itself than about Bonhoeffer’s brave yet controversial formulation that provided moral justification to the conspirators (and as the group’s courier, to himself as well): “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil”; “Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” The opening “Cast of Characters” list leaves the fate of the doomed conspirators in no doubt, but as McCormick skillfully pits the young man’s intellectual growth against the tightening noose of Hitler’s mad regime, readers will discover how compelling a story about ideas and ideals can be. Black and white photos, citations, source notes, timeline, bibliography, and index are included. EB - Copyright 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
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