A paternalistic government suspends basic individual liberties in the name of preserving the security of the homeland. That could never happen here. Could it? Firemen in a world of the near future don't put out fires. They start them. They burn books. Reading is banned in the interest of maintaining a becalmed, dumbed-down society. People are spoon-fed contrived TV "reality" shows in which viewers participate in the action. But the human intellect and instinct for freedom can't be completely denied and a rebellious few will read books regardless of the consequences. One of the rebels is a fireman himself. But the fire department has a weapon of terror, a killing machine, a robot hound who can hunt down offenders and destroy them. Can rebel fireman Montag and his friends save our cultural heritage from being crushed beneath the grinding heel of a fascist authority? Will Montag and the resistance be able to survive?