On a 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. In a landmark publication from award-winning writer David van Reybrouck, Revolusi provides us with a definitive account of what led up to this historic moment and the impact it had on the rest of the world.

With 4 million civilian lives lost during Japanese occupation and another 200,000 lost in the Dutch efforts to regain control, the history of Indonesia is fraught with conflict and violence. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, eye-witness accounts, and years of research, van Reybrouck skilfully documents the 350-year-long birth of a nation, from the early days of colonial rule to the 1949 Round Table Conference Agreement that formally granted political sovereignty.

In this fascinating conversation, one of Europe’s foremost intellectuals and historians takes the stage to discuss the collective and the personal stories of the revolution and how this moment in time set a precedent that would reshape the world.

David van Reybrouck is a historian, essayist, playwright, poet, novelist and campaigner. He is the author of Congo: The Epic History of a People, which won twenty prizes and has been translated into a dozen languages, and Against Elections which has been translated into more than twenty languages and has led to the trial use of participatory democracy in numerous countries.

Presented in partnership with Flip Through Flanders.