Revolusi

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

**Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2024
**

A story of staggering scope and drama, Revolusi is the masterful and definitive account of the epic revolution that sparked the decolonisation of the modern world.


*SHORTLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2024*

On a sunny Friday morning in August 1945, a handful of tired people raised a homemade cotton flag and on behalf of 68 million compatriots announced the birth of a new nation: Indonesia.

Four million civilians had died during the Japanese wartime occupation that ousted its Dutch colonial regime. Another 200,000 people would lose their lives in the astonishingly brutal conflict that ensued - as the Dutch used savage violence to reassert their control, and as Britain and America became embroiled in pacifying Indonesia's guerrilla war of resistance: the 'Revolusi'. It was not until December 1949 that the newly created United Nations finally brought the conflict an end - and with it, 350 years of colonial rule - setting a precedent that would reshape the world.

Drawing on hundreds of interviews and eye-witness testimonies, David Van Reybrouck turns this vast and complex story into an utterly gripping narrative that is alive with human detail at every turn. A landmark publication, Revolusi shows Indonesia's struggle for independence to be one of the defining dramas of the twentieth century.

'Astounding . . . history at its best' Yuval Noah Harari

'Utterly compelling . . . masterful' Financial Times *Summer Reads 2024*

'Superb' Guardian

'A magnificent fusion of oral history, sparkling analysis, and historical wisdom. Revolusi has it all: a masterpiece' SEBASTIAN MALLABY

'One of the most unlikely and astonishing sagas ... a towering achievement' THOMAS MEANEY

'A magisterial but gripping account of events of urgent importance to us now' JASON BURKE

'At once vast and intimate, a history in colour' LAKSMI PAMUNTJAK

'A masterly display of the historian’s craft' J M COETZEE

'A wonderful and important book' PETER FRANKOPAN

©2024 David Van Reybrouck (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

A magnificent fusion of oral history, sparkling analysis, and historical wisdom. Revolusi has it all: a masterpiece
Sebastian Mallaby
Masterful . . . utterly compelling . . . unfolds over a vast geopolitical canvas and yet never falters . . . propelled by the stories of its astonishing cast
Financial Times, *Books of the Year*
An astounding feat of both research and storytelling. History at its best
Yuval Harari
Masterly . . . This compelling narrative . . . wrapped around an extraordinary core of individuals . . . convincingly argues that Indonesia in itself represents a global crossroads, one of the most important in modern history
The Times
We learn something utterly fascinating on every single page
Evening Standard, *Best Books of 2024*
A wonderful and important book
Peter Frankopan
Superb
Guardian
The story of [Indonesia’s] formation is delivered in a manner that genuinely seems unsurpassable
History Today, *Books of the Year*
Revolusi briskly ushers Indonesia onto the centre stage of modern history
Pankaj Mishra
Majestic and beautifully written
Times Literary Supplement

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