Culture | Graveyard of empires

The second world war was fuelled by imperial fantasies

And it sounded the death knell of the colonial era, argues Richard Overy in a new history

Blood and Ruins: The Great Imperial War, 1931-1945. By Richard Overy. Allen Lane; 1,040 pages; £40

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Graveyard of empires”

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