Penned by Romano Guardini (1885-1968), one of the most profoundly insightful minds of the 20th century, this unique text - first published in English in 1960 but unavailable since, until now - is a meditative unfolding of a defining moment in the history of Western civilization. A professor of religion and theology at the University of Munich, as well as a religious humanist, and an accomplished man of letters, Guardini wrote numerous influential works in several fields. This book is no exception to the Guardini lucid explication of ideas and events central to the creation of Western culture. The merit of Guardini's beautiful book, writes Louis Dupre in his new introduction (itself an invaluable, succinct unfolding of Guardini's, and Augustine's, achievement), consists in having restated Augustine's eternal insight in the light and darkness of contemporary existence. This title is, therefore, an unequaled aid for educators, students, and general readers wishing to understand the perennial issues embodied in the conversion from paganism to, Christianity of the last Father of the Church, who was also the first medieval.