As the war finally draws to a close some of the titans are leaving the scene - Roosevelt dies, Churchill is thrown out of office, Mussolini is shot by 'partisans' and Hitler shoots himself. Harry S. Truman, a figure on the fringes, is pitched into the most powerful office in the world and asked to make a decision about a terrible new weapon. Stalin enjoys unrivalled power and sets the scene for forty years of Cold War. India gains independence which Gandhi, assassinated, never sees; and, Mao Zedong prevails in China's civil war, declaring the People's Republic in Tiananmen Square.
