Writing fiction, letters to his family, fiance, and friends and contending with his interrogator occupied Bonhoeffer during his first year in Tegel Prison. Of the incomplete drama, the novel fragment, and the short story, Bonhoeffer admitted to his friend and later biographer, Eberhard Bethge, "There is a good deal of autobiography mixed with it." This book discloses a great deal of Bonhoeffer's family context, social world, and cultural milieu. Events from his life are recounted in a way that embodies and illuminates his theology. Characters and situations that represent Nazi types and attitudes are a form of social criticism and help to explain Bonhoeffer's participation in the resistance movement and the plot to kill Adolf Hitler, for which he was hanged. This important volume, now in paperback, is complete and authoritative and contains much material not found in the previous edition. The German edition of this volume was edited by Bonhoeffer's niece, Renate Bethgewho brings personal knowledge of the Bonhoeffer family to her observationsand Ilse Tdt, who contributed much of the commentary. The English edition is edited by Clifford Green, who also edited the earlier version of the book, titled Fiction from Prison.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the most significant Protestant theologians of the twentieth century, a legacy sealed by his imprisonment in a German concentration camp and eventual execution. His resistance against Nazism and pivotal role in the Confessing Church movement have been key points of illumination for many on the nature of Christian political witness and action. Millions have been inspired by his rich reflections on the Christian life, especially his beloved works on discipleship and ethics. As a professor, seminary leader, and ecumenical theologian, Bonhoeffer's work also profoundly shaped academic theology, especially systematic theology, and the life of the church. Clifford J. Green is professor emeritus of theology, Hartford Seminary, Connecticut, and author of numerous works on Bonhoeffer. He is the executive director of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works. Nancy Lukensis Professor Emerita of German and Women's Studies at the University of New Hampshire. Her translations include among others three volumes in Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, English edition: Sanctorum Communio (1998, with Reinhard Krauss), Fiction from Tegel Prison (2000), and Bonhoeffer"s prison poetry and late correspondence in Letters and Papers from Prison (2010), as well as Daughters of Eve: Women Writers of the German Democratic Republic (1993). She and her husband, Martin Rumscheidt, are co-translators of Soelle"s The Mystery of Death (2007).
