More than an autobiography, The Confessions of St. Augustine is one of the most influential religious books in the Christian tradition. A great work of Western literature, it recalls crucial events and episodes in the author's life, in particular, life with his devoutly Christian mother and his origins in rural Algeria in the mid-fourth century A.D. A remarkably honest and revealing spiritual autobiography, the Confessions also address fundamental issues of Christian doctrine, and many of the prayers and meditations it includes are still an integral part of the practice of Christianity today.