Complex sentence: Japin spent ten years researching the novel, a postcolonial expose of the (short-lived) expansion of the Dutch colonial empire into West-Africa, which takes place in Africa, Weimar, and The Netherlands.
Split into simpler sentences: Japin spent ten years researching the novel, a postcolonial expose of the (short-lived) expansion of the Dutch colonial empire into West-Africa. The novel's action takes place in Africa, Weimar, and The Netherlands.