Confessions is an autobiographical work, consisting of 13 books, by St. Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430). It was written in Latin between AD 397 and 400. The work outlines Saint Augustine's sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. Confessions is considered one of st. Augustine's most important texts. It is widely seen as the first Western autobiography ever written, and was an influential model for Christian writers throughout the Middle Ag
es. Professor Henry Chadwick noted that Confessions will "always rank among the great masterpieces of western literature".

St. Augustine of Hippo himself was a Roman African, early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius in North Africa and is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Period. Among his most important works are The City of God, De doctrina Christiana, and Confessions. According to his contemporary, Jerome, Augustine "established anew the ancient Faith". Augustine is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Christian Church, and the Anglican Communion and as a preeminent Doctor of the Church. Protestant Reformers generally, and Martin Luther in particular, held Augustine in preeminence among the early Church Fathers.