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I really enjoyed this sharp little biography of Augustine. I've read more than the average person about Augustine's life, and have read the biography by Peter Brown (a renowned Augustine researcher), but I think it was really valuable to read an account by someone who is specifically a writer, not a historian or philosopher or religious scholar.
Wills does a good job of evoking life in late antiquity and gearing his approach towards the layman rather than the academic--Peter Brown's biography of Augustine is much more in-depth, but a bit harder to read, as Brown delves more closely into religious theory. The strength of Wills's work is that it's written clearly and gives the reader a good understanding of what Augustine was all about in under 200 pages. The book is an excellent introduction to Augustine's life and works; Wills discusses the works themselves but also strives to put those works in the context of Augustine's life, his place in the world, and the world events (like the fall of Rome) that influenced them.
I definitely feel that I have a clearer picture of Augustine as a man. Also, Wills has given me a wealth of useless little details about northern Africa, as well as possibilities about the life of Augustine's concubine. Wills really tries to imagine her life and gives Augustine's work a close reading to look for hidden details about her, which is really interesting and useful to me. I have a better window into her world now.
Wills does a good job of evoking life in late antiquity and gearing his approach towards the layman rather than the academic--Peter Brown's biography of Augustine is much more in-depth, but a bit harder to read, as Brown delves more closely into religious theory. The strength of Wills's work is that it's written clearly and gives the reader a good understanding of what Augustine was all about in under 200 pages. The book is an excellent introduction to Augustine's life and works; Wills discusses the works themselves but also strives to put those works in the context of Augustine's life, his place in the world, and the world events (like the fall of Rome) that influenced them.
I definitely feel that I have a clearer picture of Augustine as a man. Also, Wills has given me a wealth of useless little details about northern Africa, as well as possibilities about the life of Augustine's concubine. Wills really tries to imagine her life and gives Augustine's work a close reading to look for hidden details about her, which is really interesting and useful to me. I have a better window into her world now.
