Readership: Scholars and students of classics, theology (especially of Augustine and the early Church), historical linguists
Philip Burton, Lecturer in New Testament Studies and Biblical Languages, University of Birmingham
"The relative value of the work lies in the detailed information about a specific number of issues, especially statistics on word usage and comparisons with classical works... also demonstrates the rich and nuanced nature of Augustine's prose and how carefully it has to be read in order to discover all the meanings embedded in the text... Any detailed interpretation of passages that contain some of the words and concepts examined by Burton may benefit by taking into account the insights from his book." - Annemaré Kotzé, Vigiliae Christianae
"Philip Burton has written a throughly researched book that is sure to impress any reader of Augustine who appreciates both the nuances of language and the subtlety of argument weaved within Augustine's writings... this book is a must read read for those who wish to gain a deeper and richer appreciation Augustine's Confessions." - The Heythrop Journal
"Burton's book is a creative addition to the scholarship on the Confessions, well worth reading in its entirety by specialists onAugustine, but as articles, too, by any with interests in the individual topics...The result is unusual, welcome, and refreshing...a fine example of what can result from getting a different pair of eyes with a different methodology to work on a renowned and overworked canonical text." - Dan Uta Shanzer American Journal of Philology
1: Sermo 2: Alternative Comedy: The Language of the Theatre 3: The Vocabulary of the Liberal Arts 4: Talking Books 5: Biblical Idioms in the Confessions 6: The Paralinguistics 7: Epilogue
