Rich in humor and culture, passion and love for the cause of God and of man, Milestones is the autobiography of one of the most influential men in the Catholic Church at the turn of the millennium. In his famous Apology, Cardinal Newman accounted for his conversion to Catholicism. In this biography, which in certain respects recalls Newman's masterpiece, Ratzinger tells of his family life, the years of the Nazi oppression and of the war, his extraordinary academic path, and his participation in the Second Vatican Council. Illustrated.