"This Earth of Mankind" tells the story of Minke. He is a Javanese minor royal who studies at a Dutch "Hogere Burger School". At that time, usually only Europeans could study there. Minke is a talented young writer. His writing is published in several Dutch-language journals. They are popular. But many of Minke's classmates hate him because he is "native". His classmates are all at least partly European descent.