To start off, rest assured that Pino Lella is a very real person, and at the moment during which this is being written he is reportedly living a happy and healthy life, his son even responding to comments on the book through Goodreads. There are many stories to be told about the brave men, women and children who did what they had to do for the cause, and Mark Sullivan brings us one of them in Beneath a Scarlet Sky… that of Pino Lella, who at 17 years of age surpassed himself and demonstrated the kind of courage very few are capable of.

While you wouldn’t think of Italy as being a place with a strong resistance network due to the government’s political inclinations at the time, the fact of the matter is that many people opposed the fascists and the Nazis, ultimately banding together and taking the fight to them. However, the reality is that they were an important ally for the Germans and played a key role in helping the Axis secure their territory in Europe.Īs with any country occupied by oppressive forces and dictators, certain people came out of the smoke and rubble as part of the resistance, taking it upon themselves to join the Allies overseas and destabilize the enemy at home as much as possible. While it may be the birthing bed of the first fascist movements, its role in the war has been relegated to the background if most history books are to be believed. When picturing the Second World War, most people think of the Eastern European, African, or Pacific theaters where the Allies and Axis were waging war… however, there were many smaller and more “forgotten” fronts if you will, and Italy was certainly one of them. As it happens, people are still studying those six years to this day and uncovering new stories and facts that slowly help us build a more complete and accurate picture of what happened during that time period. Exploring the Forgotten Front with Mark SullivanĪs you no doubt already know, WWII was a very complex affair and the history we were taught in schools was vague and general at best, only covering the most important dates and events that shaped the world of today.

Mark t sullivan beneath a scarlet sky