Vivi's War

In the small village of San Pietro Avellana in the Apennine Mountains in Abruzzo, a young boy of fourteen, Vivi Colaianni, roams its mountainous area spying on the Nazi movements near the final years of World War II. With his friend Amedeo Frattini, he sets out to warn the Allied troops coming up the Italian peninsula of the German general's plan to stop the Allies from getting to Rome through the mountains. Meanwhile, in Rome, the king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, is trying to find a constitutional way to get rid of the Fascist leader and Prime Minister, Mussolini, without caving in to the Communists at the same time. The Kingdom of Italy is on the verge of collapse and along with it the monarchy, and the Germans know it. They seek to hold onto Italy at all costs. The Crown Prince Umberto and his wife, the Crown Princess Marie-Jose, work with loyal Italian leaders to get rid of Mussolini and form a government in alliance with the Allies now coming up from Sicily. They seek peace with the Allies and set out to communicate with the commanders of the Allied troops. The royal mission and that of two teenagers, Vivi and Amedeo, are destined to intersect in the summer of 1943 and change the course of the war for the Kingdom of Italy.

by Arthur Cola

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