{"title":"Books by David Van Reybrouck","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781529931525","title":"Revolusi","description":"\u003cp\u003e*Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2024* *Shortlisted for the Cundill Prize*\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA story of staggering scope and drama, \u003ci\u003eRevolusi\u003c\/i\u003e is the masterful and definitive account of the epic revolution that changed the course of the 20th century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Astounding . . . history at its best' Yuval Noah Harari\u003cbr\u003e'Utterly compelling . . . astonishing' \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Superb' \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn a sunny morning in August 1945, a handful of tired people raised a homemade cotton flag and announced the birth of a new nation: Indonesia. For three and a half centuries, its people had been subject to Dutch colonial rule. It would take another four years of guerrilla warfare and resistance – the ‘Revolusi’ – to finally win their freedom, blazing a trail that would reshape the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on hundreds of interviews and eye-witness testimonies, David Van Reybrouck’s superbly woven narrative is alive with human detail at every turn, showing Indonesia’s struggle for independence to be one of the defining dramas of the twentieth century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*A \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHistory Today\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eProspect\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of the Year*\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘A magnificent fusion of oral history, sparkling analysis and historical wisdom. \u003ci\u003eRevolus\u003c\/i\u003ei has it all: a masterpiece’ Sebastian Mallaby\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Masterly . . . compelling . . . convincingly argues that Indonesia in itself represents a global crossroads, one of the most important in modern history’ Elizabeth Pisani, \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘We learn something utterly fascinating on every single page’ \u003ci\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/i\u003e, Books of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘The story of [Indonesia’s] formation is delivered in a manner that genuinely seems unsurpassable’ \u003ci\u003eHistory Today\u003c\/i\u003e, Books of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘\u003ci\u003eRevolusi \u003c\/i\u003ebriskly ushers Indonesia onto the centre stage of modern history’ Pankaj Mishra\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘With rare narrative brilliance, \u003ci\u003eRevolusi\u003c\/i\u003e gives us a history at once vast and intimate, a history in colour’ Laksmi Pamuntjak\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘A magisterial and gripping account of events of urgent importance to us now’ Jason Burke\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘A wonderful and important book’ Peter Frankopan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Majestic and beautifully written’ \u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Immensely readable’ Adam Hochschild, \u003ci\u003eAtlantic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘An electrifying narrative’ Tunku Varadarajan, \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘The definitive account of a neglected epoch’ \u003ci\u003eEconomist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Masterly’ J M Coetzee\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55206279610741,"sku":"9781529931525","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529931525.jpg?v=1786023595"},{"product_id":"9780007562930","title":"Congo","description":"FINALIST FOR THE CUNDILL PRIZE FOR HISTORY‘Not only deserves the description “epic”, in its true sense, but the term “masterpiece” as well’ IndependentThis gripping epic tells the story of one of the world’s most critical failed nation-states: the Democratic Republic of Congo. Interweaving his own family’s history with the voices of a diverse range of individuals – charismatic dictators, feuding warlords, child soldiers, and many in the African diaspora of Europe and China – Van Reybrouck offers a deeply humane approach to political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective and returning a nation’s history to its people.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56220473229685,"sku":"9780007562930","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780007562930_fcbf491b-1787-491e-8b3c-8aa0a04b96ca.jpg?v=1785658775"},{"product_id":"9781847924223","title":"Against Elections","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhenever there are elections, the results are the same: fear-mongering, division and broken promises. \u003ci\u003eAgainst Elections \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a new diagnosis \u003ci\u003e–\u003c\/i\u003e and an ancient remedy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Excellent\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Why does our system keep electing people whose incomes, assets, interests and psychology are hugely at variance with ours? Because that is what it is designed to do' \u003cb\u003eGeorge Monbiot, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eVery persuasive\u003c\/b\u003e . . . invigorating' \u003cb\u003eDaniel Finkelstein, \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs this ingenious book shows, the original purpose of elections was not democracy: it was to exclude the people from power by appointing an elite to govern over them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn fact, for most of its 3000-year history, democracy did not involve elections at all: members of the public were appointed to positions in government through a combination of volunteering and lottery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBased on studies and trials from around the globe, this hugely influential manifesto presents the practical case for a true democracy – one that actually works.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUrgent, heretical and completely convincing, \u003ci\u003eAgainst Elections \u003c\/i\u003eleaves only one question to be answered: what are we waiting for?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Riveting'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eIrish Examiner\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Persuasive'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A convincing case'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308531167605,"sku":"9781847924223","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781847924223_f896656b-4d79-44dc-b63b-1812fea8d884.jpg?v=1786029137"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-david-van-reybrouck.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}