In this gripping novel, based on a true story, Primo Levi reveals theextraordinary lives of the Russian, Polish and Jewish partisans trappedbehind enemy lines during the Second World War. Wracked by fear, hungerand fierce rivalries, they link up, fall apart, struggle to stay alive andto sabotage the efforts of the all-powerful German army. A compelling taleof action, resistance and epic adventure, it also reveals Levi'scharacteristic compassion and deep insight into the moral dilemmas oftotal war. It ranks alongside The Peridoic Table and If This Is a Man asone of the masterpieces of our times.