This is the compelling story of a remarkable family's struggle over five generations against Alzheimer's disease, and the role it has played in helping to discover both the causes of the disease and an effective treatment. Written by a leading specialist in familial Alzheimer's, the book examines the cases histories of Hannah's descendants and the sacrifices made by individual family members to confront and overcome what they call a personal biological holocaust. Setting their experiences in the context of the pioneering work of Mendel, Watson and Crick, and Alois Alzheimer himself, the author reveals how intense competition for prestige and funding has driven some modern neurologists to employ ruthless research methods.