MAJOR VICTOR JOPPOLO, U.S.A., WAS A GOOD man. You will see that. It is the whole, reason why I want you to know his story.

He was the Amgot officer of a small Italian town called Adano. He was more or less the American mayor after our invasion.

Amgot, as you know, stood for Allied Military Government Occupied Territory. The authorities decided,shortly after the happenings of this story, that the word Amgot had an ugly Germanic sound, and they heard that the two syllables of the word, when taken separately, were the Turkish words for the male and femalegenital organs. So they decided to call it A.M.G. and forget about the Occupied Territory.

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Presiding over the small Sicilian village of Adano during World War II, an Italian-American major wins the love and admiration of the natives when he searches for a replacement for the 700-year-old town bell that had been melted down for bullets by the Fascists. Although situated during one of the most devastating experiences in human history, John Hersey's story speaks with unflinching patriotism and humanity.