Most Popular Books by David Van Reybrouck

"A magnificent, epic look at the history of the region. . . . A monumental contribution to the annals of Congo scholarship" ( Christian Science Monitor). The International Bestseller From the beginnings of the slave trade through colonization, the struggle for independence, Mobutu''s brutal three decades of rule, and the civil war that has raged from 1996 to the present day, Congo: The Epic History of a People traces the history of one of the most devastated nations in the world. Esteemed scholar David Van Reybrouck balances hundreds of interviews with a diverse range of Congolese with meticulous historical research to construct a multidimensional portrait of a nation and its people. Epic in scope yet eminently readable, both penetrating and deeply moving, Congo—a finalist for the Cundill Prize—takes a deeply humane approach to political history, focusing squarely on the Congolese perspective, and returns a nation''s history to its people. "A compelling mixture of literary and oral history that delivers an authentic story of how European colonialism, African resistance, and the endless exploitation of natural resources affected the lives of the Congolese." — Booklist "A vivid panorama of one of the most tormented lands in the world." — Washington Post

Cundill History Prize Finalist Baillie Gifford Prize Finalist “Epic.” —Ari Shapiro, NPR’s All Things Considered From the internationally best-selling writer, a masterful account of the epic revolution that sparked the decolonization of the modern world. On a sunny Friday morning in August 1945, a handful of people raised a homemade cotton flag and, on behalf of 68 million compatriots, announced the birth of a new nation. With the fourth largest population in the world, inhabiting islands that span an eighth of the globe, Indonesia became the first country to rid itself of colonial rule after World War II. In this vivid history, renowned scholar and celebrated author of Congo David Van Reybrouck captures a period of extraordinary tumult and chaos to tell the story of Indonesia’s momentous revolution, known as the “Revolusi.” Encompassing several hundred years of history, he details the formation of the Dutch East Indies, the Japanese invasion that followed, and the young rebels who engaged in armed resistance once the occupation ended. British and Dutch troops were sent to restore order and keep peace, but instead ignited the first modern war of decolonization. America, too, became embroiled with the Indonesians’ fierce struggle for freedom. That struggle inspired independence movements in Asia, Africa, and the Arab world, especially in the wake of Indonesia’s monumental 1955 Bandung Conference, the first global conference without the West. The whole world had become involved in Revolusi, and the whole world was changed by it. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and eyewitness testimonies, David Van Reybrouck turns this vast and complex story into an utterly gripping narrative, written with remarkable historical clarity and filled with tragedy and passion. A landmark history, Revolusi cements Indonesia’s struggle for independence as one of the defining dramas of the twentieth century and entirely reframes our understanding of post-colonialism.

Whenever there are elections, the results are the same: fear-mongering, division and broken promises. Against Elections offers a new diagnosis – and an ancient remedy. ''Excellent . . . 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'' George Monbiot, Guardian ''Very persuasive . . . invigorating'' Daniel Finkelstein, The Times As 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. In 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. Based on studies and trials from around the globe, this hugely influential manifesto presents the practical case for a true democracy – one that actually works. Urgent, heretical and completely convincing, Against Elections leaves only one question to be answered: what are we waiting for? ''Riveting'' Irish Examiner ''Persuasive'' Financial Times ''A convincing case'' Observer

Where do our images about early hominids come from? In this fascinating in-depth study, David Van Reybrouck demonstrates how input from ethnography and primatology has deeply influenced our visions about the past from the 19th century to this day - often far beyond the available evidence. Victorian scholars were keen to look at contemporary Australian and Tasmanian aboriginals to understand the enigmatic Neanderthal fossils. Likewise, today''s primatologists debate to what extent bonobos, baboons or chimps may be regarded as stand-ins for early human ancestors. The belief that the contemporary world provides ''living links'' still goes strong. Such primate models, Van Reybrouck argues, continue the highly problematic ''comparative method'' of the Victorian times. He goes on to show how the field of ethnoarchaeology has succeeded in circumventing the major pitfalls of such analogical reasoning.A truly interdisciplinary study, this work shows how scholars working in different fields can effectively improve their methods for interpreting the deep past by understanding the historical challenges of adjacent disciplines.Overviewing two centuries of intellectual debate in fields as diverse as archaeology, ethnography and primatology, Van Reybrouck''s book is one long plea for trying to understand the past on its own terms, rather than as facile projections from the present.David Van Reybrouck (Bruges, 1971) was trained as an archaeologist at the universities of Leuven, Cambridge and Leiden. Before becoming a highly successful literary author (The Plague, Mission, Congo...), he worked as a historian of ideas. For more than twelve years, he was co-editor of Archaeological Dialogues. In 2011-12, he held the prestigious Cleveringa Chair at the University of Leiden.

Mohamed El-Bachiri is a Muslim. He lost his wife Loubna in the Brussels bombing of March 2016 – a young woman murdered by a fanatical jihadist. Mohamed was left to bring up their three sons on his own. Instead of hating or collapsing into grief, he put together a short book of reflections on love, loss and the ways in which we can live together despite differences of religion and ideology. It is a plea for tolerance and compassion, a rejection of fanaticism, and it is a heartbreaking book. Mohamed El-Bachiri shows how an argument for treating each other with kindness and respect can survive even the most brutal atrocity. For him, Islam should be a struggle for love, and the struggle for love should involve us all.

À travers l’histoire d’un minuscule territoire resté neutre jusqu’en 1919 et le destin de l’un de ses habitants, qui changea cinq fois de nationalité au cours de sa vie, David Van Reybrouck nous invite à la réflexion sur la fin d’une utopie européenne, le retour des frontières et les dangers de la résurgence des nationalismes.

Moments Before the Flood, is a visual and photographic investigation into how we will handle a possible flood. Within the text Carl De Keyzer wonders how Europe is preparing itself for a possible rise of our sea levels and how insufficient these measures appear to be. The author doesn''t want to photograph the disaster, but the ''waiting for the disaster to happen''. In his photographs he captures the obscurity of the unknown and the unsure. The photographs presented in this book are monumental, both in beauty and in resolution. Carl De Keyzer used the latest technique (65 million pixels) to create intriguing images, with a highly David Lynch-like atmosphere. Locations featured include: IRELAND - The Burren, Portballintrae, Dublin, Sandycove, Ballaghaline, Galway UK - Harlech, Brighton, Folkestone, West Bay, Hastings, Kimmeridge, Tenby, Thurso, Pembrokeshire, Morfa Nefyn, Wallassey, Conwy, Barrow in Furness, Stonehaven, Whitby, Keiss, Staithes, Penmon, Thames Estuary, Skipsea, Edinburgh, Ballantrae, Dunure, Isle of Anglesey, Cullercoats, Kilnsea, Kirkcaldy, Dunrobin, Fort Augustus, Fairbourne FRANCE - Beauvoir-Ser-Mer, Trévou - Tréguignec, Sainte-Marguerite-Ser-Mer, Biarritz, Collioure, Saint-Raphaél, Bonifacio-Corsica, Nice SPAIN - Boiro, Barcelona, Atlanterra, Tarifa, Porto Do Son, Ruinas Torre Vigia, El Puerto De Santa Maria, PORTUGAL - Aguarda, Lisbon, Peniche, Torresvedras, Miramar, Fonte Da Telha AUTHOR: Carl De Keyzer is an internationally celebrated photographer. He is a Magnum photo agency member and has produced several solo exhibitions internationally. Whilst at Lannoo Carl De Keyzer published the illuminating Congo (belge), a book filled with photographs on his search for the remainders of the Belgian colonisation in Congo. SELLING POINTS: *The result of five years of travelling, presenting various dramatic photographs of the coasts of Europe *An artistic and ecological masterpiece *Includes 200 images with nursery rhymes collected from children across Europe 250 colour photographs

Geen enkele Nederlandstalige schrijver beheerst de kunst van de lofprijzing zo goed als David Van Reybrouck. Sinds begin 2015 bezingt hij op De Correspondent regelmatig iets, iemand of ergens: de ex, de lente, Leonard Cohen, de poetsvrouw, de mislukking en natuurlijk de liefde. In zijn fijnzinnige odes geeft hij zich helemaal bloot. Van Reybroucks teksten werden veelvuldig gedeeld en verschaften duizenden lezers momenten van verstilling, verwondering en schoonheid. In Odes komen deze loftuitingen voor het eerst allemaal samen. Het resultaat is een prachtige bundel vol delicate juweeltjes waarop al bijzonder lang werd gewacht.

Dass ein international berühmter und preisgekrönter Sachbuchautor und Romancier wie David Van Reybrouck sich der jahrtausendealten Form der Ode zuwendet, mag auf den ersten Blick erstaunen. Van Reybrouck verwandelt sich diese seit jeher für die rühmende Hinwendung zu Menschen und Dingen bestimmte Form auf seine eigene, sehr persönliche Weise an: Seit 2015 schreibt er in dem unabhängigen niederländischen online-Magazin The Correspondent regelmäßig emphatische Würdigungen von Menschen, Dingen, aber auch ganz alltäglichen Vorgängen: der Ex, der nächtlichen Autofahrt, dem Offline-Sein, David Bowie, Kunstwerken, Menschen, denen er auf seinen Reisen begegnet ist oder die ihn geprägt haben. Hier werden sie erstmals in Buchform veröffentlicht. Offen und neugierig auf das Leben in all seinen Erscheinungsformen zeigt David Van Reybrouck hier mehr noch als in seinen anderen Büchern seine sinnliche, verletzliche, dichterische Seite. Er tritt auf als Abenteurer, Liebhaber, Freund, als engagierter Europäer und Streiter für Demokratie, Solidarität und Menschlichkeit. Und als leidenschaftlicher Bewunderer und genauer Beobachter. Nicht nur in der Van-Reybrouck-Gemeinde sind diese Oden Kult. »Oden schreiben – ich kann es nur empfehlen: Es macht einen aufmerksamer, begeisterungsfähiger, neugieriger, dankbarer.«

Ausgezeichnet unter anderem mit dem NDR Kultur Sachbuchpreis Fesselnd und atemberaubend erzählt David Van Reybrouck die Geschichte Kongos – von der belgischen Kolonialzeit über die 32-jährige Mobutu-Diktatur und den »afrikanischen Weltkrieg« in den neunziger Jahren bis in die Gegenwart, er berichtet aus der eindrücklichen Perspektive derjenigen, die in ihrem Land leiden, kämpfen, leben. Mit unzähligen Augenzeugenberichten, bisher unbekannten Dokumenten aus Archiven und Van Reybroucks fundierter Kenntnis der Forschung ist Kongo ein Meilenstein der politisch-historischen Reportage.

De la période précoloniale aux années 2008-2009 (la fin de Mobutu et la guerre civile), en passant par l’exploration de Stanley (1870), cette histoire du Congo n’avait jamais été écrite. Se fondant sur un travail de documentation époustouflant et des mois d’enquête parfois rocambolesque, voire périlleuse, David Van Reybrouck prend tour à tour la plume du romancier, du journaliste et du dramaturge pour raconter ce pays avec une inlassable curiosité, une ingénieuse rigueur et un réel courage. Il signe un essai total, une somme extrêmement riche, un livre de référence mais aussi un hymne jubilatoire à l’extraordinaire vitalité de tout un peuple qui a déjà passionné plus de 300 000 lecteurs aux Pays-Bas et dans les Flandres.

Kongo - en historia är en storslagen historie- och reportagebok om landet som mer än något annat symboliserar situationen i Afrika. Kongo - en historia ger ett ingående porträtt av ett sargat land, men ökar också vår förståelse för hela kontinenten. Van Reybrouck skildrar landets utveckling från och med 1850 fram till idag och berättar om exploatering, kolonisering, folkmord och krig. Kongo - en historia har blivit en enorm kritiker- och försäljningssuccé i Nederländerna och Belgien, med över 300 000 sålda exemplar. David Van Reybrouck kombinerar ett enastående arkivarbete med reportagets närvaro; blandningen av fakta och personliga berättelser gör boken till något alldeles extra och fullkomligt levande. Vi möter skildringar av ofattbar grymhet - sällan har vi kommit så nära mörkrets hjärta - samtidigt ger de många personliga vittnesbörden levande exempel på enskilda människors mod, värdighet och förmåga att se framåt i de mest exeptionella omständigheter. David Van Reybrouck, född 1971 är belgisk kulturhistoriker, arkeolog och författare. Van Reybrouck är utbildad vid universiteten i Leuven, Cambridge och Leiden och har en doktorsgrad. Han debuterade 2001 med De plaag, en reportagebok från Sydafrika och har sedan dess gett ut en lång rad romaner och dokumentärskildringar. Flera av dessa har blivit prisbelönta. Han har också skrivit flera skådespel.