Paul Doolan was born and raised in the Republic of Ireland. He has spent over 30 years teaching history in the Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland. He studied history at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and completed his PhD at the University of Konstanz, Germany.

"Doolan's book is a groundbreaking and comprehensive study of the construction of a collective memory of decolonisation."<br> László Munteán , <cite> Nederlandse Letterkunde, </cite> vol. 28, Issue 1, July 2023 <br><br> "Doolan’s work is the most comprehensive English language account of so many forms of Dutch remembrance of the 1945-1949 period… For scholars who do not read Dutch, his review of Dutch texts that engage with remembrance of the independence war is very useful, particularly because of the synthesis of so many diverse works." <br> Katherine McGregor, <cite> BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review</cite>, Vol. 138 (2023) <br><br> "[...] this is quite an impressive, courageous, and ambitious attempt to sketch the whole process of the development of collective (un)remembering. [...] a complete and detailed overview, covering all facets." <br>- Liesbeth Rosen Jacobson, <cite>Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies</cite>, Vol. 42, Iss. 1

• Abbreviations, Acknowledgements, Introduction, 1 Collective Memory and Unremembering, Collective Memory, Collective Unremembering, Historical Representation, A Short Summary of Decolonization in the Dutch East Indies, 2 Representations during the War, The Press, Indonesia Calling: A Film, Oeroeg: A Novella, Historiography of the Conflict: Early Beginnings, 3 Post-decolonization: The First 20 Years, 1949-1969, The Great Unremembering, Loss, The Existentialist, Victimhood, The Adventurer, The Soldier, The Historian, 4 Breaking the Silence, The Hueting Interview, The Role of the Public, 5 Postmemory, The Moluccan Attacks, Postmemory Authors, Radio and Television, 1979-1988, 6 Loe de Jong Controversy, A Slow Change Coming, Silence of the Guild, Loe de Jong, Volume 11a, 7 Remembering the War, Ben Laurens: A Soldier Novelist, Anton P. de Graaff and The Way Back, Oeroeg: The Film, The Boomsma Affair, The Poncke Princen Affair, Television, The Guild Stirs, 8 Conclusion, Bibliography, Index.