Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian Jew who gave up athiesm for Christianity in his youth, writes about his years working as a pastor in the secret, Underground Church in Romania. Wurmbrand writes about this very book that it has "no literary value," which is true. He writes in a "stream-of-consciousness" style, seemingly paying little attention to chronology and jumping from event to event.
But while Wurmbrand does not skillfully craft a litarary masterpiece, he does give the reader quite a masterpiece as far as emotions and history are concerned. I'm aware of little historical work on Undergrounc Churches anywhere--be it Eastern Europe, the Middle East, China, or other lands. Wurmbrand does history a great service as he provides a first-hand account of Romania's secret church, how they worshiped, how they evangelized, how they communicated and provided support for each other, etc. The resourcefulness of the Church was both inspiring and surprising.
This book is also very emotionally charged. Wurmbrand pulls no punches as he describes the means by which he and other Christians were tortured: placed naked in a freezer until nearly dead, warmed up, then placed back in the freezer repeatedly; made to partake in a mock-Communion service of urine and feces; cut several times then placed in a room full of starving rats; and then there's the conventional methods of torture: beating, attacking your family, and raping. Reading Wurmbrand's descripting of these acts shocked this reader several times.
I highly recommend this book for both its historical and inspirational value. It is also highly recommended because, while Romania's Underground Church no longer has to operate in secret, there exist Underground Churches in other nations of the world: China, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Cuba (just to name a few). Reading about this particular underground church has given me insight to how the other Underground Churches still opperate today.