When Gina is ordered at knife-point to strip naked by the Nazi SS Captain, she knows what must come next. She will do anything to save the life of her husband, Michael, a "collaborator" who is in league with the Italian Partisans. As her predator draws so close she can smell his foul breath, Gina closes her eyes and prays that her two sons live to take revenge for this moment. The instant that Italy surrenders to the Allies in 1943, the country is thrown into chaos. Michael decides to reunite with his estranged cousin, Dominic, a Partisan leader, to protect ordinary citizens from both the anger of deposed Fascists and the wrath of the German occupiers who now consider all Italians to be traitors. With the help of Vincenzo, a former Fascist leader who has changed sides after the murder of his son, the two cousins thwart the plans of SS Major Botchner to hunt down Jews and execute Roman citizens at random in retaliation for Partisan activities. Michael's teenage son, Antonio, who helps hide the Jewish family of his heartthrob, Laura, in the secret escape tunnel of an abandoned Castle on the shore of Lake Bracciano, is horrified when the SS decides to use the Castle as its headquarters. Meanwhile, an American Ranger unit whose members include Frank, an Italian-American soldier and his Italian cousin Pietro, is deposited in Southeast Italy. Their goal is to gather intelligence as they make the trek northward to Rome and make contact with Dominic's Partisans. Along the way they become embroiled in the 'war within the war' as Partisans and Italian Fascists are in full battle for the future of Italy. They arrive outside of Rome just in time to save Dominic and Michael from a trap set by Botchner. With some outside help, the Rangers and Partisans hijack a prisoner train headed for the death camps in Germany and manage to escort the prisoners through the mountains and behind British lines, fighting off a Fascist force the entire way. Peter Drago is a retired college professor who has an avid interest in the history of World War II. Being a second generation Italian-American, he finds the story of the struggles of the Italian people to free themselves of the chains of both Fascism and the Nazi Occupation, while awaiting rescue by Allied forces, particularly fascinating.