Synopses & Reviews
Saint Augustine -- the celebrated theologian who served as Bishop of Hippo from 396
C.E. until his death in 430
C.E. -- is widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in the Western world. His autobiography,
Confessions, remains among the most important religious writings in the Christian tradition. In this eye-opening and eminently readable biography, renowned historical scholar James J. ODonnell picks up where Augustine himself left off to offer a fascinating, in-depth portrait of an unparalleled politician, writer, and churchman in a time of uncertainty and religious turmoil.
Augustine is a triumphant chronicle of an extraordinary life that is certain to surprise and enlighten even those who believed they knew the complex and remarkable man of God.
Synopsis
Augustine is a vivid and readable biography that tells the story of St. Augustine from the vantage point of Hippo in the years after he wrote his Confessions.
Saint Augustine, the celebrated theologian who served as Bishop of Hippo from A.D. 396 until his death in A.D. 430, is widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in the Western world. Written in the form of a long prayer addressed directly to God, Augustine's Confessions is arguably the first, and unequivocally the most influential religious autobiography in the Christian tradition.
James O'Donnell tells the story of St. Augustine from the vantage point of Hippo, the city in what is now Algeria where Augustine spent almost forty years as priest and bishop. Augustine's post-Confessions years have been overlooked in traditional biographies, but O'Donnell looks backward from the place in Augustine's public life where he found he needed to tell his story.
Throughout this fascinating biography O'Donnell reveals facts that will surprise even the most dedicated Augustinian scholar. Augustine is storytelling of the very highest order.
James J. O'Donnell is Professor of Classics and Provost of Georgetown University. He has served as President of the American Philological Association and is a Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America. He has published widely on the cultural history of the late antique Mediterranean world and is the author of many works, including Augustine: Confessions, a text and commentary in three volumes.
"O'Donnell's vibrant new study brings this imperfect saint to life, both in his wrenching smallness and in his exhilarating grandeur."
- New Republic
About the Author
James J. O'donnell is a classicist who served for ten years as Provost of Georgetown University and is now University Librarian at Arizona State University. He is the author of several books including Augustine, The Ruin of the Roman Empire, and Avatars of the Word. He is the former president of the American Philological Association, a Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, and the chair of the Board of Directors of the American Council of Learned Societies. He is seen here at an ancient monastery on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire, in Syria.