Egypt, October 1942. Serra, a student of Literature and Philosophy in Palermo and a volunteer recruit, arrives at his battle station. He is no fanatic, but everything seems great and exciting to him. He will quickly change his mind. War is not what one sees in propaganda films or reads in the books and newspapers of the Fascist regime. Especially not “that” battle (El Alamein) in which Italian soldiers were abandoned to their fate, without either means or coordination. Serra will be forced to grow up fast.