Summary

Part 1 entitled “None Shall Sleep” begins with Pino Lella learning on the radio that the Allied side is winning in Chapter One. He meets his friends in the piazza, saying he is about to fall in love. They approach one of the priests, Barbareschi, to find out what is happening at the Duomo. They are approached by Cardinal Schuster who tells Pino that they are putting up lights during the blackout in the hope that it will be spared from the bombing. The boys make their way to the Teatro alla Scala, then Pino tries talking to some pretty girls until one called Anna agrees to meet him at the cinema that evening.

In Chapter Two, Pino and Mimo stop by their uncle Albert’s store, then Pino returns home to his parents' store, Le Borsette di Lella, to see the place being...