St. Augustine in 90 Minutes

By: Paul Strathern

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Augustine's struggles with sex and a domineering mother, followed by his spiritual crisis and conversion to Christianity, detailed in his Confessions, ultimately led him to his major contribution to philosophy: the fusion of the two doctrines of Christianity and Neoplatonism. This not only provided Christianity with a strong intellectual backing but tied it to the Greek tradition of philosophy. In this way Christianity managed to keep the flame of philosophy burning, however dimly, through the Dark Ages. Augustine also produced important philosophic ideas of his own, including theories of time and subjective knowledge that anticipated by many centuries the work of Kant and Descartes.

In St. Augustine in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of St. Augustine's life and ideas and explains their influence on man's struggle to understand his existence in the world. The book also includes selections from St. Augustine's work, a brief list of suggested readings for those who wish to delve deeper, and chronologies that place St. Augustine within his own age and in the broader scheme of philosophy.

©1997 Paul Strathern (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Well-written, clear, and informed, they have a breezy wit about them. I find them hard to stop reading." (The New York Times)

Snarky but memorable and complete

The authors English accent is pleasing throughout and does not obscure the words. The content is snarky in that portrays Monica his mother as controlling in a deep you religious way, and Augustine with the resulting overactive conscience and preoccupation with sex and sexual immorality. However, this is still a very enjoyable read and keeps you motivated.

90 minutes is not enough

The brevity of this piece does not lend itself to any fair examination of Augustine or his works. The chronologies were exciting and informative.

if I could give six stars I would.

I've greatly enjoyed every one of these '. . . in 90 Minutes' audio books. Well written, slightly humorous, and narrated to match.

The sex maniac, lol.

He thought therefore he was, long before Descartes. A good addition to the author's other 90 minute overviews of philosophers.

These 90-minutes series is light and informative

If you didn't think that philosophy could be funny, listen to this author's books.