Read of the Week (April 27 to May 3)

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 serves under the 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 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 in 1945: The Reckoning — but so too does a humane and balanced exploration of what victory in the Second World War truly meant.

Phil Craig is a bestselling author and multiple-award-winning filmmaker. He studied history at Cambridge University, was a BBC graduate trainee and built his career working for iconic British TV series World in Action and Panorama.