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Books – 20th Century
I didn’t understand [the elderly Russian’s] point [about the sun rising], that is, until he continued: “Nik, that’s why we haven’t made books and movies out of these stories that you have been hearing. For us, persecution is like the sun coming up in the east. It happens all the time. It’s the way things are. There is nothing unusual or unexpected about it. Persecution for our faith has always been – and probably always will be – a normal part of life.” – Nik Ripken, The Insanity of God
Listed below are recommended books on 20th Century events either written about Christian martyrdom or by individuals who have been cited on these pages for their Christian witness. The most recently published books are at top. Please note that some books have only a small amount of their content dedicated to specific martyrs.
Where possible each listed book has links to their entries in Open Library, where items of interest to prospective readers such as Table of Contents and page count can be found. Some Open Library entries include a lendable e-book which may be downloaded and unlocked.
To see books that cover the more recent events of the 21st Century click here.
To see a list of children’s books on contemporary Christian martyrdom click here.
Undaunted Women of Nanking: The Wartime Diaries of Minnie Vautrin and Tsen Shui-fang
by Hua-Ling Hu and Zhang Lian-hong – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey’s Destruction of Its Christian Minorities 1894 – 1924
By Benny Morris and Dror Ze’evi – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Forgiveness Makes You Free: A Dramatic Story of Healing and Reconciliation from the Heart of Rwanda
by Ubald Rugirangoga and Heidi Hess Saxton – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Debt of Honour: The gripping account of the Anzac who saved the Assyrians from genocide
by Sara Lindenmayer – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
To Raise the Fallen: A Selection of the War Letters, Prayers, and Spiritual Writings of Fr. Willie Doyle, S.J.
by Willie Doyle and Patrick Kenny – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Father Miguel Pro: A Modern Mexican Martyr
by Gerald F. Muller – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Armed with Faith: The Life of Father Vincent R. Capodanno, MM
by Stephen M. DiGiovanni – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Blood Letters: The Untold Story of Lin Zhao, a Martyr in Mao’s China
by Lian Xi – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
To read a Today’s Martyrs biography on Lin Zhao click here
Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko: Truth Versus Totalitarianism
by Bernard Brien – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Addis Ababa Massacre: Italy’s National Shame
by Ian Campbell – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Doves in Crimson Fields: Iraqi Christian Martyrs
by Robert Ewan – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Priest Barracks: Dachau 1938 – 1945
by Guillaume Zeller – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Let Them Not Return: Sayfo – The Genocide Against the Assyrian, Syriac, and Chaldean Christians in the Ottoman Empire
by David Gaunt et al – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Alexander Schmorell: Saint of the German Resistance
by Elena Perekrestov – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Lion of Munster: The Bishop Who Roared Against The Nazis
by Daniel Stuart Utrecht – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Year of the Sword: The Assyrian Christian Genocide, A History
by Joseph Yacoub – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
To read a review of this book by Raymond Ibrahim click here
Saving My Assassin: A Memoir
by Virginia Prodan – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Smyrna, September 1922: The American Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century’s First Genocide
by Lou Ureneck – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Previously published as The Great Fire
Diaries of the Chinese Martyrs
by Gerolamo Fazzini – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The God of the Gulag: Volume One: Martyrs in an Age of Revolution
by Jonathan Luxmoore – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The God of the Gulag: Volume Two: Martyrs in an Age of Secularism
by Jonathan Luxmoore – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Church of Spies: The Pope’s Secret War Against Hitler
by Mark Riebling – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Strength Amid Suffering: The Martyrs of Magadan
by Michael Shields – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
To read a web or PDF version of this book click here
Miracle at Zakynthos: The Only Greek Jewish Community Saved in its Entirety from Annihilation
by Deno Seder – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Massacre of Debre Libanos – Ethiopia 1937: The Story of One of Fascism’s Most Shocking Atrocities
by Ian Campbell – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Pacifists in Chains: The Persecution of Hutterites during the Great War
by Duane C. S. Stoltzfus – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Ignatius: The Life of Ignatius Cardinal Kung Pin-Mei
by Stephen M. DiGiovanni – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected
by Nik Ripken – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Boy Who Met Jesus: Segatashya Emmanuel of Kibeho
by Immaculee Ilibagiza – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Surrender: Father Walter Ciszek: Jesuit Priest/Soviet Prisoner
by Seamus Dockery – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
For Greater Glory: The True Story Of Cristiada The Cristero War And Mexico’s Struggle For Religious Freedom
by Ruben Quezada – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Titanic’s Last Hero: A Story of Courageous Heroism and Unshakable Faith
by Moody Adams – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Minnie Vautin
by Marina Rundell – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
A novel, recommended especially for young adults.
Bonhoffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
by Eric Metaxis – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai – Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb
by Paul Glynn – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
To read a Today’s Martyrs meditation on Paul Takashi Nagai click here
The Red Book Of Chinese Martyrs: Testimonies and Autobiographical Accounts
by Gerolamo Fazzini – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Franz Jagerstatter: Letters and Writings from Prison
by Erna Putz – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Armenian Golgotha: A Memoir of the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1918
by Grigoris Balakian – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Dimitri’s Cross: The Life and Letters of St. Dimitri Klepinin, Martyred during the Holocaust
by Helene Klepinin-Arjakovsky – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Terror in Minnie Vautrin’s Nanjing: Diaries and Correspondence, 1937-38
by Suping Lu – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Jacquinot Safe Zone: Wartime Refugees in Shanghai
by Marcia R. Ristaino – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
by Immaculee Ilibagiza – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Not Even My Name: A True Story
by Thea Halo – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Advent of the Heart: Seasonal Sermons And Prison Writings 1941-1944
by Alfred Delp – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century: A Comprehensive World History
by Robert Royal – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Go to the Deep: The Life of Archbishop Joseph M. Raya
by Lesya Sabada – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Righteous Gentiles: How Pius XII And the Catholic Church Saved Half a Million Jews from the Nazis
by Ronald J. Rychlak – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Salvador Witness: The Life And Calling of Jean Donovan
by Ana Carrigan – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Mechanism of Catastrophe: The Turkish Pogrom Of September 6 – 7, 1955, And The Destruction Of The Greek Community Of Istanbul
by Speros Vryonis Jr. – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
The Power of Civil Society in a Time of Genocide: Proceedings of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on the Rescue of the Jews in Bulgaria 1940-1944
by Albena Taneva and lvanka Gezenko – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
To read a PDF version of this book click here.
The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response
by Peter Balakian – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
One Woman Against the Reich: The True Story of a Mother’s Struggle to Keep Her Family Faithful to God in a World Gone Mad
by Helmut W. Zeifle – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust
by Martin Gilbert – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
My Patriarchal Memoirs
by Zaven Der Yeghiayan – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Unfolding Design of My World: A Pilgrim in Exile
by Hassan Barnaba Dehqani-Tafti – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
American Goddess at the Rape of Nanking: The Courage of Minnie Vautrin
by Hua-Ling Hu – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Father Arseny, 1893-1973: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father
by Vera Bouteneff and Alexander Bouteneff – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Break Point: A True Account of Brainwashing and the Greater Power of the Gospel
by Silvester Krcmery – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Apostate Son
By Robert Hussein – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Their Blood Cries Out: The Untold Story of Persecution Against Christians in the Modern World
by Paul Marshall with Lela Gilbert – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
In the Lion’s Den: A Shocking Account of Persecution and Martyrdom of Christians Today and How We Should Respond
by Nina Shea – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Bound to Forgive: The Pilgrimage to Reconciliation of a Beirut Hostage
by Lawrence Martin Jenco – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Taken on Trust
by Terry Waite – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
Hostage Bound, Hostage Free
by Ben and Carol Weir with Dennis Benson – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
A Radiance in the Gulag: The Catholic Witness of Nijole Sadunaite
by Nijole Sadunaite – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
To read a Today’s Martyrs biography of Nijole Sadunaite click here
In Solitary Witness
by Gordon Charles Zahn – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Russian Church Under the Soviet Regime, 1917-1982
by Dimitry V. Pospielovsky – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
Pearl of Great Price: The Life of Mother Maria Skobtsova 1891-1945
Sergei Hackel – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
The Hard Awakening
by Hassan Barnaba Dehqani-Tafti – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
To read a Today’s Martyrs meditation on Bahram Dehqani-Tafti click here
The Siberian Seven
by John Charles Pollock – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
To read a Today’s Martyrs biography on Lida and Aaron Vashchenko click here
A Noble Treason: The Story Of Sophie Scholl And The White Rose Revolt Against Hitler
by Richard Hanser – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
To read a Today’s Martyrs biography on Sophie Scholl click here
I Love Idi Amin: The Story of Triumph Under Fire in the Midst of Suffering and Persecution in Uganda
by Festo Kivengere – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
The Hiding Place
by Corrie ten Boom and Elizabeth and John Sherrill – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Tortured for Christ
by Richard Wurmbrand – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
With God in Russia: The Inspiring Classic Account of a Catholic Priest’s Twenty-three Years in Soviet Prisons and Labor Camps
by Walter J. Ciszek and Daniel L. Flaherty – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Mary Save Us
by Adele Dirsyte – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Originally titled Prayer Book for Girls Exiled in Siberia
The Prison Meditations of Father Alfred Delp
by Alfred Delp – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here
Mexican Martyrdom: Firsthand Accounts of the Religious Persecution in Mexico 1926-1935
by Wilfrid Parsons – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
The Measure of a Man: The Life of William Ambrose Shedd, Missionary to Persia
by Mary Lewis Shedd – To read the Open Library entry for this e-book click here
Reports Blog – 2016 3rd Quarter
Books – 20th Century