Comment magazine: John G. Stackhouse Jr., “A Real Bonhoeffer for the Real World”
“Bonhoeffer literally learned things the hard way, as Marsh’s biography richly details….Such an extraordinary set of pressures on such an extraordinary bundle of resources produced, truly, a “strange glory,” a glory whose blessing and whose strangeness, both, we are not yet finished appreciating. Charles Marsh has helped us to see some of that glory within the frame of strangeness, and therefore to be inspired by it afresh.
Daily Progress: David A. Maurer, “UVa professor’s latest book illuminates the human being behind Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s commitment to conscience”
“Strange Glory provides a warm and clear portrait of [Bonhoeffer].”
Open Letters Monthly: Steve Donoghue, “Book Review: Strange Glory”
“The extremely intelligent reading-back of Bonhoeffer’s theological thinking onto the events of his life is something Marsh does very nearly to perfection throughout his book.”
Kirkus Reviews, review
“There is no doubt Marsh’s portrayal will infuse new controversy into discussions about Bonhoeffer for years to come.”
Patheos: Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, “The Strange Glory of a Fully Human Life”
“In his beautiful new biography, theologian Charles Marsh displays both how strangely human and how gloriously blessed Bonhoeffer’s life was.”
Richmond Times Dispatch: Judith Chettle, review
“Marsh has written a book that seamlessly combines a novelist’s narrative with a biographer’s insights as he relates the life of Bonhoeffer.”
The Gospel Coalition: Devin Maddox, review
“Strange Glory presents a Bonhoeffer whom casual observers might not recognize but cannot ignore. This is Bonhoeffer in three dimensions….the context of Bonhoeffer’s life in Strange Glory is better developed than any other biography in print.”
The Christian Century: John G. Turner, “Bonhoeffer’s loves”
“Charles Marsh has written a moving, melancholy portrait of Dietrich Bonhoeffer….[with] both empathy and a critical eye.”
The New York Times: Randall Balmer, “Between God and the Führer”
“Charles Marsh…renders Bonhoeffer’s life and thought in exquisite detail and with sympathetic understanding.”
Books and Culture: Wesley Hill, “The Full This-Worldliness of Life”
“Charles Marsh’s new biography…[is] by turns elegant, harrowing, awe-inspiring, and sermonic.”
Los Angeles Review of Books: Joel Looper, “Bonhoeffer Co-Opted”
“…this is one of the great merits of Marsh’s book — this Bonhoeffer is profoundly human.”
Commonweal: Andrew J. Bacevich, review
“This splendid biography by Charles Marsh, professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia, does nothing to undermine and much to sustain Bonhoeffer’s stature as theologian, pastor, and martyr. Yet the real contribution of Strange Glory is to provide a rich and detailed account of how Bonhoeffer’s immensely eventful life unfolded—the personal, intellectual, and spiritual journey that ended in a Nazi concentration camp on April 9, 1945.”
The New Criterion: James Nuechterlein
“…masterly and comprehensive.”
America: The National Catholic Review: James R. Kelly, “The Language of Peace”
“…exemplary history…moving…”