Book excerpt: Authored by one of the world's leading experts in the chemistry of lighter noble gases, this comprehensive monograph fills the need for an up-to-date review of the diverse experimental techniques and theoretical methods currently in practice. After reviewing the experiments breaking the paradigm of "non-reactive" noble gases, the physico-chemical background is introduced. Besides the emphasis on gas phase reactions, the author presents other relevant systems, such as chemistry in the bulk phase, under high pressure, and cold matrices. The discussion of gas-phase chemistry of the noble gases covers neutral and ionic compounds, diatomic molecules, complexes with small molecules and metal compounds, up to large clusters.