Concluding his authoritative, perhaps old fashioned,account of the interlocking conflicts that engulfed Asia from the late 18th century onwards, Hans van de Ven expresses his hope that Blood Dawn will contribute to ‘a gradual shift in our understanding of the significance of World War II’, by which he means a shift away from a myopic focus on the war’s European theatre. It is a worthy ambition. It is also a well-populated one.