1945: The Reckoning

Packed with fresh and surprising stories, 1945: The Reckoning takes readers on a spectacular journey from the deadly jungles of Burma through hospital ships on Indian rivers and copper mines in Formosa to the ''lost trains'' of the Belsen concentration camp. As the fate of the world is decided so too is that of the British Empire and in India millions of men and women struggle to decide whether to support ''the Raj'' or fight alongside the Japanese. 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. Clearing away the haze of nostalgia, many uncomfortable truths emerge - but so too does a new and balanced analysis of Empire at this unsurpassed moment of global jeopardy. An Indian military family is bitterly divided. Will it be the brother who stands by the British, or the one who follows Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army, who goes on to help build a new and free India?

Auteur

Phil Craig is a best selling author and multiple-award-winning film-maker.

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. Later he held senior positions at the prestigious Brook Lapping production company, at Channel Four, at the Discovery Channel and at ABC Television in Australia where he ran the entire factual output including its high profile ANZAC centenary project. Throughout his TV and writing career Phil has spent many years researching and reinterpreting the story of Britain and its Empire during the Second World War, including his definitive and bestselling account of 1940 - Finest Hour.

He now runs The Scandal Mongers Podcast with his friend and fellow writer Andrew Lownie.