The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler

This book give you high level information AND the illustration is super helpful to pain the picture. I read this in less than 4 hours. Highly recommend.

Bonhoeffer is one of those subjects that I am continually fascinated by. I have read a number of books by and about Bonhoeffer including two others this year. I did not walk into The Faithful Spy blind.Even though I know it isn’t necessarily true, I tend to think of graphic novels as oriented toward young adult readers. In other words, a simplified perspective. But like Hendrix’s book on John Brown, the presentation of Bonhoeffer is complex.Despite my long reading list about Bonhoeffer, I honestly, think that The Faithful Spy may have more clearly laid out how Hitler rose to power than any other book on Bonhoeffer that I have read. (Or at the least, I actually understood it this time.) Because Hitler has been talked about a lot lately I was paying attention to how The Faithful Spy told the story of Hitler’s rise. A meme on Facebook recently was talking about Hitler being voted into power, but as Faithful Spy makes clear, that is a partial truth. Hitler was elected, but only after he had stolen power and circumvented the democratic process that was in place.As with any graphic novel, the art plays a significant role. There is a lot more text than many graphic novels. This is not a comic book with a number of frames per page. This is mostly text (often a couple hundred words per page) with illustrations and font changes for emphasis and direction. I am not an expert on graphic novel art, but I enjoyed this. Hand drawn letters are never going to be as easy to read as machine print, but this was pretty clear.I am glad I got the hardcover version of this. That made it easier to read and fully enjoy multi-page layouts. And once I was done, I passed it on to a friend that I often exchange books.The focus of the book is Hitler’s rise to power along with Bonheffer’s basic story. Because of that focus there are things like the Barmen Declaration where The Faithful Spy hints a larger role for Bonhoeffer than he really had. Bonhoeffer was important, but he was not central in the Confessing Church.I was pleased that the Faithful Spy did make space for the role of the Black Church played in helping Bonhoeffer reconceive of the role of the church. Several books I have read on Bonhoeffer do not seem to understand how important the year in NYC studying at Union Seminary, but more important attending Abyssinian Baptist Church was to how Bonhoeffer understood the church’s role of faithful witness during persecution.Obviously, a graphic novel is not going to replace a full biography. For that, I still recommend either Charles Marsh’s Strange Glory or Schlingersiepen’s Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-1945. But this is a good introduction if you do not know a lot about Bonhoeffer and this is a good introduction to the rise of Hitler and how at least some Christians historically have understood the role of violence on behalf of Christian belief.

This is a great artistic depiction of the life of one of the most conflicted heroes of the 20th century. But there are some things to keep in mind. Bonhoeffer was one of the most complex theologians of any century. And when you read this biography, you are reading through christian, religious glasses. So, once again, this shouldn't be read by a kid without some kind of adult mentoring.First off, should a kid (early teen) read it? I think the answer is yes. Like Santayana said: Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And it really looks like that's what's happening right now. But a lot of the "action" certainly gave me nightmares, and so these things should be talked out with an adult before moving on.Also, the core "theology" of the book is very deep. It hinges on Bonhoeffer's concept of "The Other." The Other isn't just a person (although a person might embody The Other in one way or another.) The other is something different, maybe even foreign that one might not be familiar with and might be frightened of. It may be God. Bonhoeffer seems to be saying that it is the role of the church to embrace The Other, to learn from it, to bring us close to it - this is an extreme exercise in diversity education. It is one difficult to understand in practice.But this is just the tip of the iceberg of complexity in Bonhoeffer's thought. He goes on to say that "Faith without works is not faith at all, but a simple lack of obedience to God." You must act on your faith, EVEN IF IT CONTRADICTS WHAT APPEARS TO BE CORE CHRISTIAN BELIEF!Bonhoeffer was a central figure in the many plots against Hitler's life. He even transported the "brandy bottle bombs" in the first assassination attempt. Could you imagine the conflict in a man brought up to believe that murder is a sin, imperiling your immortal soul? God demands action, and that action might not always succeed. In this Bonhoeffer is a part of the chain of religious thought starting with Isaac's sacrifice, moving through Kierkegaard's "knight of Faith" up to the modern question of the use of violence to achieve a moral balance.I found it interesting that, while the book does not justify the German people, it addresses the issue of how a culturally sophisticated nation like Germany could do such horrible things. A large number of Germans simply wanted revenge for the economic devastation the Versailles Treaty visited on Germany. They liked the idea of "Germany over all." Hitler promised to make Germany a "winning" nation again. And when he achieved early success, the bulk of Germany fell in behind him, no matter what happened to the "Others" surrounding them. What was encouraging was the courage of the few (like Bonhoeffer) who resisted these impulses.These are hard things to deal with. But I guess they must be dealt with and this is a pretty good book to start with. Read it yourself and talk to your kids about it while they read it.

A great book. Neat to learn a true story of war time hero’s who laid it all on the line for what they believed. Also cool graphics to keep attention of younger readers

Sowohl die Fokussierung auf wichtige Phasen und Themen seines Lebens als auch die in einem Comic erforderliche Simplifizierung ermöglichen es, uns Lesern diesen Mann sehr nahe zu bringen. Er ist absolut zeitlos, d. h. hat für heutige gesellschaftliche und politische Fragestellungen Relevanz.Ausserdem habe ich über die Innenverhältnisse des NS-Machtsystems zwischen Gestapo einerseits und Abwehr andererseits einiges für mich Neues erfahren.-(Am Rande kommt man zu der Erkenntnis: Die Attentate gegen Hitler sind nicht gelungen, weil unter den Verschwörern niemand zum Selbstmord mit Bombe oder Pistole bereit war, man wollte nicht sein Leben opfern, sondern selbst in der Nach-Hitler-Ordnung mitwirken.)

Fantastic book! Well-written and illustrated and engaging for ages 10+, unless the child is exceptionally interested in history and can read well. My kids, ages 11, 14, 15, and 17 love it and it gets reread regularly.

This is a great book that gave me more insight and knowledge into Hitler, WW2 and Bonhoeffer. It helped me to know more about Bonhoeffer and the painful time it was for Germany. His level of commitment and faith to God and to his country was great. I highly recommend it.