Dietrich Bonhoeffer—The Last Eight Days

The very best and very worst of humanity jostle for position in this gripping narrative of the closing days of the second world war. John McCabe’s meticulously researched account draws on remarkably varied sources that he exploits with forensic skill. The outcome is a readable and profoundly moving book that deserves attention well beyond the ranks of those interested in Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

~Stephen Plant, Dean, Trinity Hall, Cambridge

A pulsating chronicle of the tumultuous and fateful week during which Bonhoeffer's journey, amidst his unlikely companions, took him from Buchenwald to Flossenbürg while the Third Reich imploded with brutal vengeance. There is nothing romantic about this tragic tale of martyrdom, but there is testimony to a courageous faith in the face of brutal evil.

~John W. de Gruchy, Extraordinary Professor, Stellenbosch University and Emeritus Professor, University of Cape Town

In short and fast-paced chapters, this riveting new book brings us close to the characters that populated Bonhoeffer’s last week. John McCabe paints these figures in the round and with new and unprecedented historical accuracy, taking readers deep inside the swirling chaos that attended the war’s end. A range of oversimplifications and myths have grown up around the death of this modern saint, whose faith stands out even more clearly when his grueling and tragic reality is brought into such clear focus.

~Brian Brock, Professor of Moral and Practical Theology, University of Aberdeen

McCabe gives us a fascinating account, well-researched and with much material new to most readers, of Bonhoeffer’s final pilgrimage to his martyrdom at Flossenbürg. Also, many other figures, usually overlooked, involved in the drama of these doom-laden days in April 1945 get deserved attention. While typical versions of Bonhoeffer’s last days and hours have relied on the overly sanitized accounts of dubious witnesses, McCabe leaves us in no doubt of the brutality of what awaited him and the other conspirators executed on 9 April, making the significance of his faithfulness unto death all the more telling.

~Keith Clements, former General Secretary, Conference of European Churches