The true story of how Cesare Mori ("The Iron Prefect") cleaned up the Sicilian Mafia is a little-known chapter of Italian history and spans the years from World War I to the rise of Fascism. In one night alone, he and his men arrested 300 delinquents and Mafia thugs who had taken total control of the people and the economy of the Madonie mountain region in Sicily. Summoned to the area because of his reputation as a man of action, he and his deputy Spanò are willing to do whatever necessary to loosen the criminal grip on the region. It's a war of nerves, but Mori understands how the Mafia won the hearts of the people: through intimidation and the promise of protection for citizens who feel forgotten by the State. By gaining the trust of the people in small villages and by using the same iron-fisted methods as his adversary, Mori makes historic inroads. So much so, that in 1925, Mussolini summons him to Palermo to do it again. Mori is successful once more, until he finds a few too many connections between the Mafia and government officials in Rome.