The edited and translated correspondence between René Girard and Raymund Schwager is a great gift to those engaged in the study of violence and religion-specifically relating to mimetic theory … Several points in this book are of particular significance: the helpful timeline provided by the editors, the translator notes, and the themes discussed by the two correspondents … [T]he editors and translators clearly viewed their work as a labor of love-and it shows.

Reading Religion, A Publication of the American Academy of Religion

The English translation of the recently published letters between Girard and Schwager represents an important and exciting resource for scholars of mimetic theory. The correspondence offers an insider's peek into many of the key developments in thought of both Girard and Schwager. … These letters will serve to nuance the discussion about how mimetic theory fits into the (especially Catholic) theological conversation. … Regarding production, the team effort at translating and editing the letters paid off. The editorial touch is just right, and the translators do the best possible job of preserving but making intelligible Girard's occasionally grammar-free sentences. The superb index will prove immensely helpful for those looking to track down comments about a particular figure or topic. The book is a winner and we can hope that a paperback will appear soon.

Violence and Religion

A touching testimony of growing friendship, alert contemporary companionship, and of passionate theology. Hardly anything compares in current intellectual life.

Józef Niewiadomski, Professor for Dogmatic Theology at the Institute of Systematic Theology, University of Innsbruck, Austria

The extant correspondence between René Girard and Raymund Schwager, S.J.-over a hundred letters-is a treasure-trove for scholars interested in the reception and development of mimetic theory during the formative period of its extension from literary and anthropological analysis to Biblical interpretation and theology. The remarkable intellectual friendship richly evidenced in these letters shows the mutual indebtedness of Girard and Schwager to one another. The letters-earnest, exploratory, candid, generously humane-shed light upon the broader academic culture within which Girard and Schwager lived and worked, the theoretical controversies in which they were engaged, and the books, articles, and reviews that they read and recommended to each other. Readers will find these letters, now available in English translation, utterly fascinating.

Ann Astell, Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame, USA