The inspiration for this book was the predicament of the Union of South Africa, the author's own country. Based on his study of St. Augustine's De Civitate Dei, Brookes has written a book neither wholly theological nor wholly political, considering not South Africa alone, but the world and the individual as well.

The inspiration for this book was the predicament of the Union of South Africa, the author's own country. Based on his study of St. Augustine's De Civitate Dei, Brookes has written a book neither wholly theological nor wholly political, considering not South Africa alone, but the world and the individual as well.