diff --git a/Doc/library/sqlite3.rst b/Doc/library/sqlite3.rst
--- a/Doc/library/sqlite3.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/sqlite3.rst
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@
 
    .. attribute:: isolation_level
 
-      Get or set the current isolation level. :const:`None` for autocommit mode or
+      Get or set the current default isolation level. :const:`None` for autocommit mode or
       one of "DEFERRED", "IMMEDIATE" or "EXCLUSIVE". See section
       :ref:`sqlite3-controlling-transactions` for a more detailed explanation.
 
@@ -820,13 +820,23 @@
 Controlling Transactions
 ------------------------
 
-By default, the :mod:`sqlite3` module opens transactions implicitly before a
-Data Modification Language (DML)  statement (i.e.
-``INSERT``/``UPDATE``/``DELETE``/``REPLACE``), and commits transactions
-implicitly before a non-DML, non-query statement (i. e.
-anything other than ``SELECT`` or the aforementioned).
+The underlying ``sqlite3`` library operates in ``autocommit`` mode by
+default, but the Python ``sqlite3`` module by default does not.
 
-So if you are within a transaction and issue a command like ``CREATE TABLE
+``autocommit`` mode means that statements that modify the database take effect
+immediately.  A ``BEGIN`` or ``SAVEPOINT`` statement disables autocommit mode,
+and a ``COMMIT`` or a ``ROLLBACK``, or a ``RELEASE`` that ends the outermost
+transaction, turns ``autocommit`` mode back on.
+
+The Python ``sqlite3`` module by default issues a ``BEGIN`` statement
+implicitly before a Data Modification Language (DML)  statement (i.e.
+``INSERT``/``UPDATE``/``DELETE``/``REPLACE``), and issues a ``COMMIT``
+statement implicitly before a non-DML, non-query statement (that is, anything
+other than ``SELECT`` or the aforementioned).
+
+So if you are within a transaction (whether started explicitly by your code
+or implicitly by issuing one of the DML statements above) and issue a command
+like ``CREATE TABLE
 ...``, ``VACUUM``, ``PRAGMA``, the :mod:`sqlite3` module will commit implicitly
 before executing that command. There are two reasons for doing that. The first
 is that some of these commands don't work within transactions. The other reason
@@ -834,15 +844,18 @@
 is active or not).  The current transaction state is exposed through the
 :attr:`Connection.in_transaction` attribute of the connection object.
 
-You can control which kind of ``BEGIN`` statements sqlite3 implicitly executes
-(or none at all) via the *isolation_level* parameter to the :func:`connect`
+You can control which kind of ``BEGIN`` statements :mod:`sqlite3` implicitly
+executes via the *isolation_level* parameter to the :func:`connect`
 call, or via the :attr:`isolation_level` property of connections.
+If you specify no *isolation_level*, a plain ``BEGIN`` is used, which is
+equivalent to specifying ``DEFERRED``.  Other possible values are ``IMMEDIATE``
+and ``EXCLUSIVE``.
 
-If you want **autocommit mode**, then set :attr:`isolation_level` to None.
-
-Otherwise leave it at its default, which will result in a plain "BEGIN"
-statement, or set it to one of SQLite's supported isolation levels: "DEFERRED",
-"IMMEDIATE" or "EXCLUSIVE".
+You can disable the ``sqlite3`` module's implicit transaction management by
+setting :attr:`isolation_level` to ``None``.  This will leave the underlying
+``sqlite3`` library operating in ``autocommit`` mode.  You can then completely
+control the transaction state by explicitly issuing ``BEGIN``, ``ROLLBACK``,
+``SAVEPOINT``, and ``RELEASE`` statements in your code.