Book Review: "Saint Patrick" by Jonathan Rogers

BookSneeze® provided me with a complimentary copy of this book so that I could review it.

"Saint Patrick" is part of a Thomas Nelson series called “Christian Encounters.” The point of the series is to make church history more accessible for the general believer. In the “Saint Patrick” book, Rogers attempts to get behind the legends and consumerism of St. Patrick’s Day to the true life of the actual saint. Rogers examines the history available about Patrick and puts him into context. Additionally, there is an Appendix with writings attributed to St. Patrick.

I thought the premise of this book – seeking the true man behind the legend – was great, but it didn’t turn out exactly as I expected. There was a lot of speculation on Rogers’ part (though, as an academic, I know that this is the best he could do with the sources available to him). I suppose I was more interested in the grandiose stories than I realized, so I was expecting more of those. However, for the purpose of the book, and the series in general, I think Rogers did a good job of presenting the real Patrick and introducing the reader to the history. This book was a little dry at times, but it definitely made me more interested in learning about the true Patrick. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in an academic introduction to the true St. Patrick and the Irish culture of his time.