Augustine's Confessions are an essential religious and literary classic, but few are aware of how the saint's life and thought were influenced by women. In this finalist for the Cundill History Prize, Kate Cooper introduces four women whose hopes and plans collided in Augustine's early adulthood: his mother, Monnica; his lover; his fiancée; and Justina, the troubled empress of ancient Rome. Drawing upon their depictions in the Confessions, Cooper skillfully reconstructs their lives in the context of fourth-century society, where each found her own way of prevailing in a world ruled by men.