The story is set at the end of the Dutch colonial rule and was written while Pramoedya was imprisoned on the political island prison of Buru in eastern Indonesia.

Minke faces a complex and dangerous world when he meets Nyai Ontosoroh, a njai or concubine of a Dutch man.

In This Earth of Mankind, Pramoedya portrayed the unjust life of the Indonesian people during the Dutch colonization period when social status was governed by the amount of European blood running through their veins.

The book tells the story of Minke, a Javanese minor royal who studies at a Hogere Burger School (HBS) in an era when only the descendants of the European colonizers can expect to attain this level of education.

Minke is introduced to an extremely unusual Indonesian woman, Nyai Ontosoroh, who is the concubine of a Dutch man called Herman Mellema.

Though she is a concubine, Nyai Ontosoroh is the actual head of family and company as Herman Mellema lost his sanity in the past.

After release from detention in April 1980, Hasjim Rachman, the former editor of the Eastern Star and Pramoedya met with Joesoef Isak, a former journalist of the Merdeka newspaper who had been detained in Salemba prison.

In the meantime, Hasjim and Joesoef made the rounds of key government officials, including the Vice-President, Adam Malik, who were positively disposed towards the enterprise.

The editors of major media organizations were contacted, to the effect that they were not allowed to review or praise This Earth of Mankind or any other of Pramoedya's works.

The Association of Indonesian Publishers (IKAPI), which were organizing an exhibition of the books of that year, suddenly sent a letter to the address of Hasta Mitra, revoking Hasta Mitra's membership in the association, despite the fact that the committee had been enthusiastic about inviting the publisher to become a member and be involved in its activities.

Finally, on 29 May 1981, the Attorney General published regulation SK-052/JA/5/1981 about the banning of This Earth of Mankind and its sequel Child of All Nations (Anak Semua Bangsa).

All bookshops and agents were visited by people from the Attorney General's office and all copies of This Earth of Mankind and Child of All Nations were confiscated.

The Ampat Lima company, which had originally printed the two novels also ceased trading because of pressure from the Attorney General's office and the Interior Ministry.