1945: The Reckoning: War, Empire and the Struggle for a New World by Phil Craig

''This is a book that crosses the globe from Britain to Germany and from India to Indonesia...it is ambitious, deeply thought-provoking and, as with all the very best history, compellingly told'' -James Holland

As the fate of the world is decided, so too is that of the British, Dutch and French empires.

In India a generation committed to independence must decide whether to support ''the Raj'' or fight alongside the Japanese. One military family is bitterly divided. Will it be the brother who fights under British command, or the one who follows Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army, who goes on to help build a new and free India?

In Borneo a little known Australian special forces campaign - secretly controlled from London - goes horribly wrong as questions are asked about whether its true purpose is military or imperial.

And in Indochina and the East Indies British Generals free and arm Japanese prisoners of war and use them in savage campaigns that aim to put colonial rulers back into their palaces.

Clearing away the haze of nostalgia, many uncomfortable truths emerge - but so too does a humane and balanced exploration of what victory in the Second World War truly means.