The period 1928 to 1931, which followed completion of his dissertation, was formative for Bonhoeffer’s personal and pastoral and theological direction. Almost all of these nine hundred pages of writings appear in English here for the first time. They document the intense four–year period that included preparation of his postdoctoral thesis; a vicarage in Barcelona; occasional lectures; his postdoctoral academic year at Union Theological Seminary; travel around the United States, Cuba, and Mexico; and his re-entry into the German academic and ecclesial scene.

Framing this trove of diaries and letters, essays and lectures, and two dozen sermons, Clifford Green’s exemplary introduction clarifies Bonhoeffer’s developmental trajectory; Reinhart Staats’s Afterword highlights the themes in Bonhoeffer’s writings; while the short memoir from his cousin Hans Christoph von Hase offers a unique personal perspective.