In this interpretation of Ambrose, bishop of Milan from 374-397, Neil McLynn thoroughly sifts the evidence surrounding this very difficult personality. The result is a detailed interpretation of Ambrose's actions and writings that penetrates the Bishop's painstaking presentation of self. McLynn succeeds in revealing Ambrose's manipulation of events without making him too Machiavellian. Having synthesized the vast complex of scholarship available on the late 4th century, McLynn also presents a study of the politics and history of the Christian church and the Roman Empire in that period. Logically organized, the book traces the chronology of Ambrose's public activity and reconstructs important events in the 4th century.