Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World

Shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize • Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize

A New Yorker Best Book of 2024 • An Economist Best Book of the Year • A Financial Times Best Book of the Year • A Marginal Revolution pick for Best Nonfiction of the Year • A Chicago Public Library Must-Read for 2024 • A Five Books Best Book of the Year • A Prospect Magazine Best Book of 2024

From the internationally best-selling writer, a masterful account of the epic revolution that sparked the decolonization of the modern world.

 

On a sunny Friday morning in August 1945, a handful of people raised a homemade cotton flag and, on behalf of 68 million compatriots, announced the birth of a new nation. With the fourth largest population in the world, inhabiting islands that span an eighth of the globe, Indonesia became the first country to rid itself of colonial rule after World War II.

In this vivid history, renowned scholar and celebrated author of Congo David Van Reybrouck captures a period of extraordinary tumult and chaos to tell the story of Indonesia’s momentous revolution, known as the “Revolusi.” Encompassing several hundred years of history, he details the formation of the Dutch East Indies, the Japanese invasion that followed, and the young rebels who engaged in armed resistance once the occupation ended. British and Dutch troops were sent to restore order and keep peace, but instead ignited the first modern war of decolonization. America, too, became embroiled with the Indonesians’ fierce struggle for freedom. That struggle inspired independence movements in Asia, Africa, and the Arab world, especially in the wake of Indonesia’s monumental 1955 Bandung Conference, the first global conference without the West. The whole world had become involved in Revolusi, and the whole world was changed by it.

Drawing on hundreds of interviews and eyewitness testimonies, David Van Reybrouck turns this vast and complex story into an utterly gripping narrative, written with remarkable historical clarity and filled with tragedy and passion. A landmark history, Revolusi cements Indonesia’s struggle for independence as one of the defining dramas of the twentieth century and entirely reframes our understanding of post-colonialism.

6 maps and illustrations

David Van Reybrouck is an acclaimed playwright and the internationally best-selling author of Congo, a finalist for the Cundill History Prize. He holds a doctorate from Leiden University and has taught at Bard College. He lives in Brussels, Belgium.