Soon to be a major television event from Pascal Pictures, starring Tom Holland.
Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the USA Today and #1 Amazon Charts bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours. Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian … the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.
In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier—a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.
Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.
Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense, and love.
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If you like WWII history and unforgettable characters this is the book for you!
This is a touching book based on a true story. The heroism of a young man during WW2 in Italy. How he risked his life to help the Jews escape out of the country, enlisted and became a frontman to a Nazi General. It is a little of a love story, too.
The true story of Pino Lella is just an unimaginable story of a Milanese boy whose adventures during WW2 are larger than life.
This was an interesting story of Italy during WWII. Worth the time to read.
A fabulous book based on the true events of a young man growing up in Italy during World War 11. It is so well written, it had me gripped from the start, I couldn’t put it down. It is a very moving story which really makes you reflect on life. I love books that make you think and you can learn something from them as well. This is one book which I will never forget.
4.5 stars rounded up for a fascinating story of a young Italian teenager in Milan, Italy during WWII. In 1943, Pino Lella is 17 and only interested in girls, his friends and family. But the war intervenes, and his parents send him to a mountain home for boys run by Roman Catholic priests. There, Father Re instructs him to take long hikes in the mountains, along specific routes, many of which are close to the Swiss border. Soon Father Re explains to Pino that he wants him to guide Jewish refugees to the Swiss border, where they are met by a friend.. Pino grows strong and guides many refugees to safety.
But then Pino returns to Milan, where his father insists that he enroll in the German army, where he will be assigned to a safe position and not sent to the Russian front if he is drafted. The death rate for Italian soldiers on the Russian front is 50%. Through a chance encounter, Pino becomes the Driver for General Leyers, in charge of all logistics for the German army in Italy. Leyers reports directly to Hitler. Pino agrees to his Uncle Albert’s request to become a spy and pass on information to Albert to be sent to partisans/Allies.
Along the way, Pino finds love and then tragedy. The pages flew by while reading this 526page book–5 days.
One quote: the author, describing his book–“As a result, then, the story you are about to read is not a work of narrative nonfiction, but a novel of biographical and historical fiction that hews closely to what happened to Pino Lella between June 1943 and May 1945.”
This was an Amazon Prime eBook.
Beneath a Scarlet Sky was a unique book in that the author intended to write a non-fiction book, but due to a lack of sources wrote it as a novelized version of one man’s memories. This leads to the book reading a little different than it might have otherwise. In some ways it’s a little uneven because you don’t really get the perspective you outherwise might, but if you give it a chance it works, and is an amazing story.Mark Sullivan has written a great book, and tells a tale worth telling.
Mark did a wonderful job with his characters. I love historical fiction and this one was a page-turning masterpiece. WOW I absolutely loved it.
If you are a fan of historical fiction novels this will be a great read for you. Every page I was curious about what would happen to the characters. Highly recommend.
I love that the author was able to meet with the main character to gather information regarding this book. Admire the stamina of this generation!
A fictionalized account of teenage Italian boy Pino Lella’s amazing coming of age tale in Northern Italy late in World War 2. Pino’s saga is sweeping, from guiding Jewish refugees through mountain passes to safety in Switzerland under the direction of a Catholic priest, to spying on the Nazis’ number two General in Italy when Pino serves as the General’s driver in Northern Italy, to finding and losing a doomed love. Pino’s rider, General Leyer, is a memorable figure, a man of talent who carries out his evil orders with dispassionate efficiency to progress within the Nazi army, yet seeks repentance in ways that surely fall short. Pino finds himself in central Milan as Allies and the Italian partisans wrest control from the Nazis and Italian fascists, and his experiences evoke admiration of courageous action, exhilaration of victory, and inevitable tragedy in a ruthlessly anarchic environment. Based at least in part on actual events, the prose often has the emotional even-handedness of non-fiction as opposed to a novel’s sense of the suspense of not knowing what lies ahead.
Was this review helpful? I am an avid world war based fiction reader and author. You can read more of my takes at https://brodiecurtis.com/curtis-takes/.
This blockbuster novel tells the story of Pino, an Italian man who is deeply embedded in the Nazi power structure who puts his life in danger by operating as an Allied spy.
Based on an amazing true story that took place during WWII. The main character in the story was courageous beyond measure. This is a story that needed to be told and I hope it will be made into a movie.
One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It’s crazy to think this is a true story, and how much courage and bravery Pino showed throughout the entire book. Pino is such a well developed character, and his story is so important. It’s clear how much time and research went into this book as well, to tell a very important WW2 story!
One of the best books I’ve read in a while.
Best book I read in 2019. I bought two additional books to give as gifts. They enjoyed the story, too.
An absorbing and gripping WW2 novel based on the real-life story of a member of the Italian resistance. The main character finds himself leading Jewish families over the mountain peaks of Northern Italy before eventually becoming the driver for one of Italy’s top Nazis and using his position to spy for the Allies. Your heart is often in your mouth as you turn the pages. Sad, exciting, inspiring, and a great read.
Wonderful WWII novel set in Milan and based on a true story!
Everyone should read this book and learn of the life of Pino Lella who, as a teenager, saved the lives of so many Jews during World War II. His story is compelling and inspirational. His bravery and selflessness leave us in awe and we will never forget him once we have made his acquaintance. We ask ourselves, if faced with the danger Pino faced, would we be as brave? I have recommended this book to many who have thanked me and loved it as much as I do. It will change your life.
This is the best book you’ve never heard of, Excellent.