Hello and welcome to Battleground 45 with me, Saul David.

Today I'm talking to Phil Craig, bestselling author and award-winning filmmaker about his new book, 1995, The Reckoning, War, Empire and the Struggle for the New World.

This is the third in the trilogy of Phil's books about Britain in the Second World War. The previous two, co-authored by Tim Clayton, were Finest Hour and End of the Beginning,

about the events surrounding the Battles of Britain and Alamein, respectively.

Now, the focus of the new book, fascinating new book, is India, Burma,

and the fate of the British and other empires. And you put together a fascinating cast of characters.

But two in particular drive the story forward, and they are, of course, Sabaya

or Timmya, or Timi, as he was known, the first non-white soldier to be given command of a brigade in the

Indian Army, and Subas Chandar Bose, of course, much better known, the revolutionary nationalist

and former president of the Indian National Congress, who by 1943 had thrown in his

lot with the Japanese and was leading the anti-British Indian National Army. Now, the fascinating

thing about these two is that they both had the same ultimate aims, and that was for India

to be ruled by the Indians, and yet they chose very different paths to achieve that goal. Tell us a little bit

about both men, Phil, and why they chose those separate parts. They make it such a fantastic

juxtaposition, and I think when you're writing a book, it's wonderful to have characters

that bounce off each other because their lives utterly interweave. And they both indeed do believe

in Free India, and Timmy, General Timmy, who is, in many ways, they're because their lives utterly interweave. And they both indeed do believe in a free India. And

Timmy, General Timmy, who is in many ways the hero of the book, I think. He is friends with the

Nehru family. He's a lifelong critic of British imperialism, who refuses to order men into the

streets to confront protesters during some of the protests about independence.

And he is very critical, actually, of some of the things that happen in the early years of the war.

You know, the retreat from Burma, where there's some very bad things.

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