On Order

“Michael Foley’s volumes translating Against the Academics and On the Happy Life absolutely sparkle with Augustine’s wit and erudition; they deserve to be the century’s default version of these lesser-known works.”—Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Review, The Best Books of 2019: Works in Translation

“Michael Foley’s new edition of De ord. helps readers step back to see the order and beauty of the text. In doing so, he takes an important step forward in scholarship on Augustine's early works. Foley's is the sort of translation that could be produced only by someone who had mastered the substance of Foley’s commentary, which sets parts within wholes and maps individual characters’ perspectives as they change over time. . . .In sum, this volume marries an excellent translation and a useful scholarly apparatus. Exemplifying Augustine’s mosaic metaphor, Foley presents an attractive ‘big-picture’ reading of De ord.’s project as a regimen of spiritual exercise, as he treats the way characters reach conclusions as at least as important as the conclusions they arrive at. Foley also gets the vast majority of details right, the ‘tesserae’ of the text.”—Erik Kenyon, Augustinian Studies

Praise for the series:
 
“Foley’s exceptional labors now allow modern Anglophone readers to access the treasure of these dialogues, along with the related On the Immortality of the Soul. In each of Foley’s four volumes, an excellent translation is accompanied by a short introduction, then a commentary slightly longer than Augustine’s text, as well as hundreds of footnotes. Each volume stands on its own for classroom use.”—Daniel E. Burns, Review of Politics
 
“Michael Foley’s orchestration of the Cassiciacum dialogues—a four-part translation, annotation, and commentary—renders Augustine’s most important voice, the voice of the seeker, readily available to a broad readership. These are perfect teaching texts, and they are equally compelling for experts.  This welcome return of the dialogues, separate and yet intimately related in Foley’s handling of them, marks the most important literary event in Augustinian studies since Peter Brown’s biography.”—James Wetzel, Villanova University
 
“Yale University Press has excelled in publishing these beautiful volumes. Michael Foley models good translation, deeply engaged with the intricacies of the Latin and yet flowing elegantly and readably across the page. Foley’s commentary introduces the reader carefully and invitingly into these important and complex texts from Augustine’s first years as a Christian writer. They belong on the shelves of all who value the wisdom of the early Christian tradition.”—Lewis Ayres, Durham University
 
“A truly impressive undertaking.”—Marc D. Guerra, Assumption College
 
“A consistent, faithful and elegant translation of the crucial but relatively neglected dialogues by Augustine of Hippo.”—Simon Oliver, Durham University
 
“Michael Foley’s lively, precise new translation makes this dramatic dialogue accessible to today’s reader, adding yet another dimension to our understanding of the endless breadth of Augustine’s developing thought.”—Brian Daley, University of Notre Dame
 
“Foley has provided a vital and long-needed service, giving us lively, engaging and accurate translations, and commentaries that are well-grounded without being overwhelming.”—Erik Kenyon, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
 
“Michael P. Foley has given us a clear, compelling, and valuable resource in his new translation of Augustine’s inaugural work as a Christian convert. . . . Foley’s commentary and introductions somehow manage to be both informative and contextualizing without overshadowing the intricacies and insights of the text they are in service of.”—Zachary Thomas Settle, Augustinian Studies
 
“Michael Foley’s new translation of Augustine’s Cassiciacum dialogues (of which the first two of a projected four volumes are now available) is clear, useful, and long overdue.”—Elizabeth Klein, Theological Studies
 
“Foley is to be congratulated on providing a good critical edition and not least a readable translation of the text.”—Nicholas Paxton, Melita Theologica
 
“Foley’s translation reads easily and is transparent. Literal translation and identical formatting in each volume contribute substantially to the reader’s insight into the plan of the Cassiciacum dialogues. Michael Foley’s reading and translation are convincing in many respects.”—Martin Claes, Augustiniana
 
“Foley’s translations and commentaries on the Cassiciacum dialogues offer a smooth presentation of Augustine’s ear