When World War II arrives in Italy, not even the Duomo di Milano is safe. (Photo by Roberto Guerrini, Flickr)

World War II is one of those unique periods in time which seems to generate an unending supply of powerful stories. Partly, I think, it is because the atrocities people endured and the horrors they witnessed were so outrageous they are still difficult for us to fully comprehend at times. The flip side of the coin, however, is that these stories often celebrate the fortitude of the human spirit and mankind’s tenacious desire to survive even the most dire of circumstances. That is definitely true in Mark Sullivan’s new novel, Beneath A Scarlet Sky.