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Summary: St. Augustine and his Times
Review: It is said that if anyone claims to have read all of Augustine, he is a liar. Certainly, given the sheer amount of written works by Augustine, some even found recently, this is a reasonable phrase. But Coral Harrison comes very close to proving this phrase wrong.In this exceptionally well-written text, Harrison outlines the major threads in Augustine's thought, seeing them in the context of his life and his times. Along with this, she clearly has a good grasp on the veritable ocean of secondary literature on Augustine. For those not familiar with St. Augustine's theology and philosophy, this is an excellent introduction to the bishop of Hippo Regius. For those who are familiar with Augustine, or even specialize in him, this is still a helpful text. As Augustine's thought goes both far and wide, Harrison illustrates the connections between them, as well as helping the experienced reader see elements of Augustine's thought that he/she may not be familiar with. As a warning, though - one should not take this text as exhaustive. So, for instance, on Augustine's political theory and views on coercion, Harrison gives some pages to this, but only hinting at its complexity. Certainly, this says nothing bad about her book - one can't address everything in 220 pages. But it is a caution. One other note. One sees, at times, "context" used in as a codeword for "postmodern" or the like. Thankfully, this book is spared that nonsense. Harrison's book is solid, well-versed in primary and secondary literature, and not pedantic. Highly recommended.
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