The Pilgrim City:St Augustine of Hippo and His Innovation in Political Thought

`This book is one of the most original and penetrating interpretations of Augustine's political thought for years. Grounded in a profound knowledge of the texts, and written with exemplary care and attention to detail, this will be an important resource for all those interested in Augustine, in Christian thought and the evolving intellectual history of the early middle ages.'

In this book Miles Hollingworth investigates how Augustine's understanding of discipleship causes him to resist the normal tendencies of Western political thinkers. On the one hand, he does not attempt to delineate an ideal state in the classical fashion: to his mind, the Garden of Eden can be an archetype for nothing on earth. And on the other hand, he does not seek to achieve an ideological perspective on the proper relations between Church and State. In fact his Pilgrim City is shown to lie beyond utopianism, realism and the normal terms of political discourse. It stands, instead, as a singular challenge to the aspirations of politics in the West; and so standing it calls for a reassessment of his position in the history of political thought.

Nicholas Rengger Professor of Political Theory and International Relations, St Andrews University
Miles Hollingworth is Visiting Research Fellow of St. John's College, Durham. His writing on Augustine has won awards from the Society of Authors (2009 Elizabeth Longford Grant for Historical Biography) and the Royal Society of Literature (2009 Jerwood Award for Non-Fiction). He is presently writing a new scholarly biography of Augustine which will also be published Continuum.