In the future, an oppressive government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and maintaining a group of enforcers known as “firemen” to perform the necessary book burnings. Fireman Montag begins to question the morality of his vocation. Curious about the world of books, he soon falls in love with a beautiful young member of a pro-literature underground – and with literature itself.

During World War I a British soldier, charged with desertion, is defended by an officer who at first despises his actions and then grows to feel sympathy for him.