Today's marks the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II. Or does it?
J.G. Ballard's great novel reminds us that the war started at different times for different groups. For the Poles it began on 1st September 1939; for the British expatriate community in Shanghai it began in 1941; for the Chinese it began in 1937. More importantly, his novel reminds us that the impact of war does not end with the formal end of hostilities.
So World War II: 1939-1945 or 1937-1946? Perhaps we can make too much of anniversaries.
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