At the end of the Second World War, Trieste, a city in the north of Italy that had remained in the shadows throughout the conflict, suddenly found itself the focus of great strategic interest. Caught between Italy and Yugoslavia, between the West and the Communist block, it was administrated by America and Britain for no less than nine years. These were the years of Philip Morris cigarettes, of the first blue jeans seen in Europe, of neon signs, nylon stockings, increasingly short skirts, of nights fuelled by martinis and boogie-woogie, and the first Hollywood movies. The American soldier Jim Herring and his Trieste wife Claudia witnessed it all and tell us about those incredible years with the help of never seen archive footage and historical reconstructions. Trieste appeared to be a happy island, but in reality it was revealed to be a powder keg and a nest of spies!