German gunners shoot down a British
biplane flying across a desert. A group of
Bedouin pulls the badly burned pilot from the wreckage, rescuing him. Hana, a
French-Canadian Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps nurse, learns from a wounded soldier that her boyfriend has been killed. In
October 1944 Italy, she is caring for a dying, severely burned
English-accented patient who says that he cannot remember his name. His only possession is a copy of
Herodotus's Histories, with personal notes, pictures, and mementos stored inside. When a fellow nurse is killed in front of her, Hana decides she's a curse to her loved ones. She gains permission to settle in a bombed-out monastery with her patient, as he is suffering during their hospital unit's relocation. She's joined by Lieutenant Kip Singh, a
Sikh sapper in the
British Indian Army posted with Sergeant Hardy to clear German mines and booby traps, and David Caravaggio, a
Canadian Intelligence Corps operative who was tortured in German captivity. Caravaggio questions the patient, drawing out details of his past while Hana and Kip begin a love affair. In the late 1930s, Hungarian cartographer
László Almásy is exploring a region of the Sahara as part of a
Royal Geographical Society archeological and surveying expedition, which includes his good friend Englishman Peter Madox, and British couple Geoffrey and Katharine Clifton, who conduct aerial surveys with their plane. Almásy discovers the location of the ancient
Cave of Swimmers, containing cave paintings. As the group documents the find, Almásy and Katharine fall in love. He writes about her in notes folded into his book, which she discovers when he awkwardly accepts two watercolours of the cave walls and asks her to paste them into the book. They return to Cairo and begin an affair, while the group arranges for more detailed archaeological surveys of the cave and surrounding area. Almásy buys her a silver thimble as a gift. Geoffrey secretly watches her from his car and realizes she is cheating. Months later, Katharine breaks things off, fearing the repercussions from Geoffrey. When the archaeological projects are halted by the onset of the war, Madox leaves his
Tiger Moth airplane at
Kufra Oasis and returns to Britain. Caravaggio seeks revenge for his injuries, killing the German interrogator who cut his thumbs off and the spy who betrayed him, and seeks out whoever provided maps to the Germans, allowing them to infiltrate Cairo. He confronts Almásy about the Cliftons' death, and he concedes "Maybe ... I did". Hana overhears Almásy telling Caravaggio about packing camp
in 1941 when Geoffrey arrives in the biplane. He aims at Almásy, who jumps out of the way, and crashes. Almásy finds Geoffrey dead at the controls and Katharine badly injured in the front seat. It was an attempted double murder-suicide, as he uncovered their affair. Almásy carries Katharine to the Cave of Swimmers and observes that she is still wearing the thimble he had given her as a gift and she declares she has always loved him. Leaving her with provisions and his book, Almásy walks three days across the desert to British-held
El Tag. He asks for help for her, but a young officer detains him on suspicion of being a spy. Transported away by train, Almásy escapes and encounters a German army unit which takes him to the Kufra Oasis, where Madox has hidden his plane. Exchanging maps for fuel, Almásy flies to the cave, finds Katharine dead, and is shot down flying her body away. After hearing the story, Caravaggio abandons his quest for revenge. Kip is reposted after the explosives are cleared and agrees with Hana they'll meet again. Almásy tells her he's had enough by pushing vials of morphine towards her. Though distraught, Hana grants his wish, administering a lethal dose. As he drifts to sleep, she reads him Katharine's final letter, written while alone in the cave. The next morning, Hana goes with Caravaggio to Florence, clutching Almásy's book. ==Cast==