Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World
David Van Reybrouck reconstructs the Indonesian struggle for independence from Dutch rule, framing it as a hinge event in twentieth-century history. He follows the long incomplete reach of Dutch colonization, the Japanese occupation during the Second World War, the proclamation of independence in 1945, and the bitter four-year war that followed. The book draws on extensive interviews with surviving witnesses across Indonesia, the Netherlands, and Japan, alongside archival material in several languages. Van Reybrouck argues that the Indonesian revolution helped trigger the broader decolonization of Asia and Africa and the founding of the Non-Aligned Movement at Bandung in 1955. He combines oral history, narrative reporting, and political analysis in a translation by David Colmer and David McKay.
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The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A history of Indonesian independence and its role in setting off the global wave of postcolonial nationalism.
Yes. Cowen reviewed it on Marginal Revolution in March 2024 and included it on his Best Non-Fiction of 2024 list, calling it an excellent book.
Van Reybrouck is Belgian and writes in Dutch, but he draws heavily on Indonesian oral history and treats the revolution as a global event rather than a colonial postscript.
Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World was written by David Van Reybrouck, published in 2024 by W. W. Norton.
Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World is 656 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World takes most readers 10 to 14 hours to finish.
Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.