The Empire's War

An important commemorative collection to mark the eightieth anniversary of VE Day, to ensure the world never forgets.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the British empire covered one quarter of the earth's land surface and included one fifth of the world's population. People all around the British empire were caught up in the war in very different and unexpected ways, and had their lives completely changed, sometimes in ways that they could never have ever imagined.

Leading historian Dr Yasmin Khan tells the stories of some of those people, from tea pickers in India to a Māori army lieutenant serving on the front line, and from a Singaporean resistance fighter to the first Australian woman journalist to report on the D-Day landings in Dunkirk. Each account gives a voice to these incredibly brave unsung heroes, who deserve to be remembered for their courage and dedication to the Allied war effort.