Perspective

The author takes the majority of his information about this historical figure from an autobiography, quite possibly from an English translation of a work originally produced in Latin. The author writes the Preface with a clear and intentional subjectivity. However, during the main body of the text he keeps his own personality as only a subtle influence, or altogether 'aside'. Peter Brown writes about Augustine from a secular perspective. While he does not remotely deny that this Augustine is a Roman Catholic - he is a Roman and a Catholic, he indicates those who have been canonized as Saints with a clear S. However, it is left without any further ado.

There is a high probability that the author expects the audience to either be university educated people, or clerics. He may predict that the bulk of readers will be professionals or people who are in training for...