The properties of elements often reflect the properties of life itself - volatile, inert, lustrous, precious, poisonous, brittle...

Inspired by the rhythms of the Periodic Table, Primo Levi assesses his life in terms of the chemical elements he associates with his past. From his birth into an Italian Jewish family, through his training as a chemist to the pain and darkness of the Holocaust and its aftermath, Levi reflects on the difficult course of his life in this heartfelt and deeply moving book - one of the key testaments of the last century.