Revolusi

During August 1945, a small group hoisted a cotton flag sewn at home and proclaimed a new nation, and David Van Reybrouck tells the story of the Indonesian revolution known as the Revolusi. Reaching from prehistory to the present, the history covers how the Dutch East Indies took shape, Japan's invasion, and the young rebels who took up arms once the occupation ended. It also shows the fight spurring freedom movements across Asia, Africa and the Arab world, notably after the 1955 Bandung Conference. He drew on hundreds of interviews with ordinary people. Written in Dutch in 2020, it was shortlisted in English for the Cundill History Prize and the Baillie Gifford Prize.

Tyler Cowen included it on his list of the best non-fiction of 2024.