''Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World'' () is a 2020 historical non-fiction book by David Van Reybrouck. It covers the

history of Indonesia The history of Indonesia has been shaped by its geographic position, natural resources, a series of human migrations and contacts, wars and conquests, as well as by trade, economics and politics. Indonesia is an archipelagic country of 17,000 ...

from

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

, the Dutch colonial period, the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during A ...

to the

modern era The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500 ...

, utilising interviews with ordinary people that van Reybrouck conducted. It was first published in Dutch in 2020 and in English in 2024 by

The Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1887 by John Lane and Elkin Mathews, The Bodley Head existed as an independent entity or as part of multiple consortia until it was acquired by Random ...

in a translation by David Colmer and David McKay. It was a bestseller when it was first published in the Netherlands. The English translation was shortlisted for both the 2024 Cundill History Prize and the 2024

Baillie Gifford Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...

.https://www.thebailliegiffordprize.co.uk/inside-the-covers/news/the-prize-announces-2024-shortlist

References

{{Indonesian National Revolution History books about Indonesia 2020 non-fiction books The Bodley Head books History books about the Dutch Empire History books about colonialism Indonesian National Revolution Flemish literature