It is astonishingly French that Saint Therese of Lisieux, the youngest doctor in the Church, was born. Today, it is more alive than ever: its relics have travelled the five continents for several years; it attracts the media and millions of believers and non-believers. In 1956, almost sixty years after his death, Father François de Sainte-Marie presented the first critical edition of Histoire d'une âme, which reached five hundred million readers. Forty-three years later, Conrad De Meester reviewed from top to bottom, in the archives of the Carmel of Lisieux, all aspects of the authenticity of Histoire d'une âme, and subjected Therese's manuscripts to careful examination. The result was a sensation. The conclusions forced the author to publish this brand new critical edition, restoring the authentic structure of Histoire d'une âme; illustrated, presented and annotated with precision and pastoral sense, it is intended to become the reference edition.