The story follows three boys growing up in the Cilento Valley in southern Italy in the early 19th century in what was then the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Salvatore, who is all about patriotic spirit, Domenico, who believes in friendship, and Angelo, a restless and violent man.  In 1828 all three join Young Italy, a political movement seeking unification of Italy founded by Giuseppe Mazzini. Following this decision, their lives take different paths, tracing some episodes of the historical Risorgimento period which sought to consolidate various territories on the Italian Peninsula into a single unified state.