Where there are victors, there are also the defeated. As the Second World War comes to a close in Southeast Asia, the Japanese military forces in the region must face up to the fact that the British will soon return to reoccupy their colonies. The British, on the other hand, have to quickly organise the reoccupation of their former colonies, focusing on Singapore and Malaya. Surprised by the abrupt surrender of their enemies, planning is put into high gear. Meanwhile, prisoners of war and the general population in Malaya and Singapore, having suffered greatly under the Japanese, wait impatiently for the moment when they can once again breathe freely. In the midst of this, chaos looms and racial tensions build, ready to erupt. Journeying to the past, this book unravels the intricate details of the culminating events in the history of the end of the war in Malaya and Singapore. Based on research gleaned from the classified documents only recently made public in the UK, an unprecedented exposition unfolds the events that went on behind the scenes as the British prepared to return to the region to reestablish their authority. With a cast of historical characters ranging from the great and powerful General Itagaki to the less well-known but no less significant members of the espionage Force 136, the events leading up to and following the official Japanese surrender in Southeast Asia is captured in remarkable detail here in one volume as The End of the War: Singapore’s Liberation and the Aftermath of the Second World War.