Augustine the African

A groundbreaking reassessment of one of Christianity's foundational thinkers from award-winning classicist Catherine Conybeare

Augustine of Hippo is widely considered one of the most influential theologians of all time, an early Christian writer whose works helped shape Roman Christianity and the origins of Western philosophy. Born in Carthage around 354 AD, Augustine of Hippo's African identity and roots have been largely denied and painfully obscured over centuries. But they were foundational to his theological practice and outlook on the world. Drawing on a wealth of evidence including original sources and the Augustinian texts themselves, world-renowned scholar of Augustine Catherine Conybeare traces his travels from North Africa to the European continent, placing the "African" firmly in the centre of his biography. A story of movement, exile, identity, faith and suppression, Augustine the African upends conventional knowledge about one of Christianity's most prolific saints, and returns the genesis of Catholic doctrinal thought to its very origins on the African continent.