The son of a pagan father and a Christian mother, Saint Augustine spent his early years torn between conflicting faiths and world views. His Confessions, written when he was in his forties, recount how he came to turn away from his youthful ideas and licentious lifestyle to become a staunch advocate of Christianity and one of its most influential thinkers. Many of the prayers and meditations in Confessions are still fundamental parts of modern religion.
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Augustine of Hippo
Saint Augustine was born on November 13, AD 354, in Tagaste (modern-day Souk Ahras, Algeria), and died almost 76 years later in Hippo Regius (modern-day Annaba) on the Mediterranean coast 60 miles away. In the years between, he devoted himself to the mastery of the texts of scripture, and becoming a formidable theologian. He was the author of On the Beautiful and the Fitting, On Christian Doctrine, Confession, The City of God, On the Trinity, and many more.
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Coralie Bickford-Smith
Coralie Bickford-Smith is an award-winning designer at Penguin Books, where she has created several highly acclaimed series designs. She studied typography at Reading University and lives in London.
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