Brethren in Adversity: Bishop George Bell, the Church of England and the Crisis of German Protestantism

Throughout the middle years of the 20th century George Bell, Bishop of Chichester from 1929 to 1957, was deeply involved in the ecumenical movement and the political life of Europe. His sustained commitment to German affairs was demonstrated by ten visits to Germany between 1928 and 1957. These were documented in extensive travel diaries , some of them purely personal and others circulated confidentially to fellow church leaders. Through Bell’s diaries for 1933-1939, and other related sources, the book offers insights into the struggles of the German churches during and after the Third Reich. It also conveys the profound difficulties which English Christians faced in coming to terms with a very different Protestant Christianity, and a disturbingly violent political culture. The book revolves around material in the Bell archive at Lambeth Palace, but also includes documents from different collections written by other figures in the Church of England who shared Bell’s concern with the Christian life of Germany.