The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Sullivan, Mark. Beneath A Scarlet Sky. Lake Union Publishing, 2017.

Pino Lella listens to the radio before meeting his friends and then Cardinal Schuster at the Duomo, then Pino tries to talk to passing girls with no success until he gets one called Anna to agree to go to the cinema with him. Later that evening before Pino and Mimo arrive but Anna has failed to show. Bombs start falling and they run home. The Lella family and friends start going to the countryside at night to avoid the bombs in Milan. The Lella store is bombed so Pino has to go stay at Casa Alpina to be safe. Upon arriving there, Father Re tells him that he must hike a certain route every day, because he is being trained to escort refugees to the border to safety, which he begins doing. Pino witnesses a fatal incident perpetrated by a partisan gang who later go on to rob Pino and others at a party, although Father Re refuses to back down.

The partisan gang continue to intimidate Pino, and he and Mimo escort a family, including a pregnant violinist, to the border, getting caught in an avalanche halfway in. They dig their way out and Pino skis with the violinist on his back to the border. The Gestapo arrives at Casa Alpina to search for refugees and the boys create a distraction. Pino is summoned home to be told that he is to enlist in the German Army to be safe. While on duty a Nazi official called General Hans Leyers hires Pino as his personal driver, which his aunt and uncle say is a chance to spy for the resistance. and the next morning Pino drives to the given address to find Anna there. General Leyers instructs Pino to drive him to a stadium in Como where he sees laboring enslaved men.

Pino serves as a translator between General Leyers and Mussolini then upon return to Milan Pino visits his friend Carletto. A bomb explodes nearby which injures then kills Mr. Beltramini, who sees Pino's swastika armband before dying. Carletto sees it too and disowns him as a friend. The next day Pino and General Leyers drive to San Vittore prison where every tenth prisoner is put in a lorry and later shot dead in the town square. Pino manages to find the key to the valise and Anna catches him trying to take it, so he is forced to explain who he is and Anna takes his side, later sharing a kiss in the kitchen. Pino comes home to see Mimo has returned, who sees the swastika armband and calls Pino a traitor, but Pino is unable to tell the truth. News emerges of actions undertaken by the Allies as a result of Pino’s information, and later Pino and General Leyers are attacked by a Spitfire when driving. General Leyers orders produce to be stolen off local farmers, and at Milan Central Station, people are taken away in a train. On a night mission where Pino sees the transfer of gold and hears what he suspects are slaves being shot. General Leyers gives Pino the day off, which he uses to take Anna to the mountains and the countryside.

Anna offers to help Pino smuggle a radio, then General Leyers ends up leaving the valise in the car while drunk and Pino photographs its contents while he has the chance. He receives a call from his mother saying his childhood friend has been killed and he volunteers to collect her body. Pino drives to Casa Alpina where he seeks comfort and advice from Father Re then he has to drive General Leyers to the train station where General Leyers decides to spare some of the people bound for Auschwitz. Pino finds out that Uncle Albert has been arrested on suspicion of being a spy and then Pino is confronted by Mimo again but this time they reconcile. Mimo tells Pino to arrest General Leyers and bring him to a specific address, then Pino proposes to Anna and she accepts, telling him that she will be in touch soon. Pino drives General Leyers to meet both with officials who are trying to ensure a peaceful resolution to the war, with the exception of Mussolini who refuses to surrender. Pino takes his chance to arrest General Leyers then turns him in. Pino sees fighting on the way back home, where his family are celebrating and Uncle Albert has broken out of prison. An American officer wants Pino to organize an end-of-war party, and Pino goes to reconcile with Carletto.

Pino and Carletto play music at the party then the next day Pino discovers that Dolly and Anna have been taken and goes outside to see a mob going into Castello Sforzesco. He sees Dolly and Anna, amongst other people, being brought out before the crowd, where partisans shoot and kill them, and start turning on Pino who is forced to run away and hide. He is about to jump off the cathedral’s balcony when he is stopped by Cardinal Schuster. The next day Pino goes to the cemetery where he finds Anna. Pino says goodbye then agrees to carry out a dangerous mission, which turns out to be escorting General Leyers to the border. Pino sees the opportunity for revenge so he accepts the mission. Pino attempts to take his chance to shoot General Leyers, who says that Pino inadvertently caused the death of Anna. At the border General Leyers reveals that he knows Pino's code name. News breaks that the war is won. The Aftermath explains what has become of the main characters, since that time. The author sits with Pino on the shore of Lake Maggiore, who spends a little more time going back on his memories once more.