This is a biography of Primo Levi, the noted Italian philosopher, writer and scientist. The book examines the man within his life in Turin, before, during and after World War II and the particular place of the Jew in Italy. It looks at Primo Levi as a European as well as a notable survivor of Auschwitz and at the influence he had on people all over the world. What kind of man was this private, modest author, whose books made of him an icon of human dignity and justice? Did Auschwitz make him a writer at 27 and kill him at 67, or is the truth more complicated than that?