Another 1001 list book received as part of my 2010 christmas present. Thank you family! Will read and release soon.

Philip Roth called this "One of the century's truly necessary books". Primo Levi's description of surviving in the arbeitlager at Auschwitz-Buna is the story of human tenacity and the determination to find a way to survive in the face of incomprehensible and overwhelming odds. Reading this book and books such as Fateles by Imres Kerstz give an incomparable picture of the atrocities commited in Germany and Poland by the Nazis. These activities were facilitated in part by a Europe which couldn't or wouldn't understand. If this is a Man is a fantastic book and one that really did need to be written. However, I was possibly more fascinated by the little told story of what happened in Europe after the truce was called and liberation came to the death camps. It is difficult to imagine the chaos in Central Europe as hundreds of thousands of sick, malnourished and poverty stricken prisoners of all nationalities were left stranded thousands of miles from home. The reptriation process must have been phenomenal, especially with all lines of communication and many transport networks completely destroyed as a result of the war. Primo Levi uses "The Truce" to describe how difficult it was to return home and makes a strong case demonstrating surviving the arbeitlager was just the first step in a longer battle for liberation.