author
Charles Norris Cochrane
1889–1945
A Canadian historian and philosopher, best remembered for exploring how the classical world gave way to Christian civilization. His writing links Rome, Augustine, and the long cultural shift that shaped the West.
1 Audiobook
David Thompson, the explorer
by Charles Norris Cochrane
About the author
Born in Omemee, Ontario, in 1889, he studied at the University of Toronto and later at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He returned to Toronto and joined the University of Toronto faculty, where he taught ancient history and built a reputation as a serious, original scholar.
He is especially known for writing about the meeting of classical antiquity and early Christianity. His best-known book, Christianity and Classical Culture, examines the period from Augustus to Augustine and helped make him an important voice in the study of late antiquity.
He died in Toronto in 1945. Though his life was relatively short, his work remained influential for readers interested in Roman thought, the early Church, and the intellectual turning point between the ancient and medieval worlds.