If Is the Only Peacemaker

“If Is the Only Peacemaker provides a seminal reassessment of the cultural and spiritual roots of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy As You Like It. Maillet’s . . . use of Shakespeare’s own contemporary tools of rhetoric to read the play allows for fascinating new light on such issues as gender and spirituality, while being itself a refreshing and celebratory experience.”


—Katherine M. Playfair Quinsey, University of Windsor





“Maillet . . . offers here a sweeping genealogy of Catholic Humanism, tracing it from the Bible through Augustine and medieval great texts to the writings of such as Erasmus and Thomas More. This worldview, honed by elegant Renaissance rhetoric, provides the lens through which he surveys the beauties of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Learned but highly accessible, Maillet’s book offers a valuable introduction to Christian humanism plus a probing yet engaging account of Shakespeare’s winsome comedy.”


—David Lyle Jeffrey, Baylor University