Gustave Flaubert considered The Temptation of St. Anthony his masterpiece. He worked on it for thirty years and published the final version in 1874. In the book, Flaubert portrays a single, terrifying night in the life of St. Anthony the Great, an early Christian saint and ascetic, during which he faced punishing temptations of every kind. Vivid and provocative, this work is a mesmerizing read.