Letters to London

"Just when we thought there was no more to be discovered of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, there comes this little gem: letters from him to a teenage boy and his family in London, written just as Bonhoeffer was concluding his time as pastor there and taking up his crucial work as leader of an underground seminary back in Nazi Germany. Here we see the brilliant theologian and courageous resister against Hitler as no less concerned to be a caring pastor and personal mentor of a young person starting to face the uncertainties of his age. Ten years later, in prison, Bonhoeffer was to describe friendship as 'by far the rarest and the most precious good' of human freedom, and these earlier letters underline how true that always was for him. Aided by excellent editorial commentary and notes, they also give fascinating extra glimpses into the fateful struggle then being waged in Germany and, as with all great spiritual writing, what was addressed personally to one or a few readers years ago can speak with wisdom and encouragement to many more today."

--Keith Clements, Editor of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: London, 1933-1935

(Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 13)



"In 1999, when the German edition of the
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works was completed, almost every piece written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer seemed to be published. It is therefore both rare and exciting when new papers or letters are discovered. The letters published in this well-edited volume belong to this kind of new discovery. They are especially interesting as they document a friendship between the pastor Bonhoeffer, at the time he was preparing to become the director of a seminary of the Confessing Church in Germany, and an adolescent who was Bonhoeffer's confirmand in London, whom Bonhoeffer addresses as an adult."

--Christiane Tietz, President of the German Section of the

International Bonhoeffer Society



"It is remarkable that Bonhoeffer would have had the time to write these letters to Ernst Cromwell. That he did so, however, is a testimony to his calling as a pastor . . . We are in debt to Stephen Plant and Toni Burrowes-Cromwell for making these letters available to us, along with their excellent annotations. Bonhoeffer lovers will love these letters."

--Stanley Hauerwas, Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity School