Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"[Lamb] introduces his readers to another Augustine. This Augustine was not a pessimist but a champion of hope. He encouraged his hearers to hope for the well-being of the city. And he possessed an expansive vision of Christians and non-Christians working together to improve their lives on earth."
---Aaron Alexander Zubia, Wall Street Journal"A fascinating revisionist view of the political thought of St. Augustine. Contrary to a popular perception of Augustine as an otherworldly thinker who accents ‘darkness and pessimism,’ Lamb sketches a persuasive portrait of a thinker who ‘encourages a realistic hope for a better form of community not only in heaven but on earth.’"
---E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post"Michael Lamb offers a compelling and timely defense of the virtue of hope, presenting Augustine as a significant resource for those who seek to foster political community today . . . [and] a major contribution to the work of rehabilitating Augustine as a vital interlocutor for those seeking to promote good citizenship."
---Veronica Roberts Ogle, Perspectives on Politics"[Lamb] enters a thoroughly overcrowded senior common room, but he does so with panache in this his first major book. He writes clearly and demonstrates an impressive knowledge of primary and secondary sources. . . . Any thoughtful Christian who engages with secular colleagues in the public domain today might learn from this new book."
---Canon Robin Gill, Church Times"Michael Lamb’s
A Commonwealth of Hope: Augustine’s Political Thought is an important intervention not only in Augustine studies, but also in our politics of stagnation and hopelessness."
---Terence Sweeney, Public Discourse"Excellent."
---Frank Litton, The Irish Catholic"A new and innovative interpretation of Augustine’s political thought that supports political engagement with the expectation of improvements in this world." * Choice *
"Erudite and compelling. . . .
A Commonwealth of Hope is a beautifully written, carefully argued, and illuminating reexamination of Augustine’s political thought that presents a richer picture of Augustine’s political thought."
---Matthew H. Young, Religious Studies Review"With
A Commonwealth of Hope, Michael Lamb has provided what I take to be a faithful and powerful reading of Augustine that should become indispensable, if not normative, for future uses of the bishop of Hippo within political theory. . . . I whole-heartedly recommend this book to any scholar of Augustine, be they interested in the explicitly political aspects or not."
---Adam Ployd, Augustinian Studies
