The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice, by Christopher Hitchens, investigates the motives and actions of a Catholic nun who, for many, epitomizes love and charity throughout the world. Published in 1995, when Mother Teresa was in her mid-eighties and two years before her death, the book relies on research from articles, books, documentary film, still photography, unpublished manuscripts, personal contact, and eyewitness accounts to construct an argument that the nun's first allegiance is neither to helping the poor nor to spiritual matters, but to aiding the worldly ambitions of the Church.