The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam Kindle Edition

This is a very sad book to read for anyone that loves Europe, its history, culture, people, architecture, etc. How could any people voluntarily allow itself to be displaced in their own homelands? The author tells the story of post-war immigration into Europe through the decades and the total unwillingness of Europe's leaders to address its long term consequences. All debate over the huge numbers of immigrants and their offspring from all over the world has been shut-down by the mainstream political parties by implying anyone who opposes this transformation is racist, xenophobic, nativist, etc.The displacement of Europeans by foreign peoples in Europe is now a foregone conclusion. The Europeans are dying faster than they are reproducing while Muslims, Africans, Arabs and other foreigners are reproducing their populations rapidly. The author explains the implications of all this for the future of Europe.All those that love Europe will have to come to terms with a prolonged, chaotic and painful departing of what was once the shining light of a civilization that accomplished so much everywhere in the world. Very depressing.

Murray frames the moral dilemma facing the west through a quote from the prophetic 1973 book  The Camp of the Saints . Author Jean Raspail saw ‘A million poor wretches, armed only with their weakness and their numbers, overwhelmed by misery, encumbered with starving brown and black children, ready to disembark on our soil, the vanguard of the multitudes pressing hard against every part of the tired and overfed West. I literally saw them, saw the major problem they presented, a problem absolutely insoluble by our present moral standards. To let them in would destroy us. To reject them would destroy them.’An established journalist, Murray had the resources to travel throughout Europe to view the immigration problem firsthand. He spoke to immigrants on the island of Lesbos, the slums of Malmö, the streets of Paris. He thoroughly appreciates their motives in coming to Europe and in the early chapters appears convinced that the majority of them have no motive other than to improve their lives.Later chapters, the bulk of the book, go into extensive detail about the Islamic immigrants. They do not want to integrate. They have no respect for the host cultures. They are given to crime, especially rape. Their parts of the major cities – Paris, Stockholm, Berlin – become no-go zones for police, firemen and ambulances. They institute Sharia law among themselves and reject the host countries. Many other authors have described what he saw in  France , Germany , Holland  and  Sweden .A larger question than why the Muslims behave as they do is why Europeans allow it to happen. Murry recites the well-known history of strife between Islam and Christianity, from Charles Martel's victory at Tours in 732 through the 1683 defeat of the Ottomans at Vienna. Islam is a known enemy of Christianity. Why are they allowed?Politicians give a number of excuses for admitting refugees. Europe is not having enough children to fill the workplaces. Diversity makes society more enjoyable. More workers make for a richer country. It is not practical to keep them out. European values demand that all comers be treated humanely. Murray assesses and dismisses each argument in turn. Then he turns to a core thesis. Europe is simply tired. European philosophy and culture crested at the end of the 19th century. It had nowhere to go except nihilism and hedonism, and those are the paths it has chosen. Europe is allowing the Muslims to take over because it hasn't the strength to defend itself, and does not believe it has anything worth defending. Murray's arguments are well made, and his knowledge of European history, philosophy and literature are impressive.The argument is encapsulated in his treatment of Michel Houellebecq's novel  Submission , about the coming to power of an Islamist government in France. The book was widely condemned both by Muslims and by mainstream politicians fearful of same. Europe has given up on freedom of speech when it comes to Islam. Too many events have shown that it is too dangerous.It is the politicians who are especially cowardly. The people by and large, and in increasing numbers, don't want widespread Muslim immigration. Yet the politicians keep the doors open and keep telling saccharine stories about how wonderful it all is. The common man is able to contrast the stories with everyday reality and conclude that they are lying.Here we come to some points that Murray could explore further. There are huge contradictions between a Sharia law society and modern liberalism. Treatment of women and homosexuals would top the list. Yet, liberals continue to push for open borders. He notes cases such as that of Pym Fortuyn in the Netherlands in which liberals came to oppose immigration (and, too often, to die for taking such a stance). He notes that Jews have been driven from historical Jewish quarters and are very often victims of attacks by Muslims. He does not whatsoever go into the question of who owns the media that covers up Muslim crime and broadcasts the message of diversity. He mentions Soros a few times, but fails to note that Soros is only the most prominent of many.Genetics is another topic that deserves more attention. Murray would credit the differences between the immigrants and the host populations as purely cultural. Liberals believe the same, and fervently hope that in a few generations the immigrants will become indistinguishable from the host populations. Findings by scientists in  genetics , evolution  and  intelligence  give the lie to these happy dreams. The populations are genetically different. They took thousands of years to evolve traits that enable them to optimally fill the niches they do. To survive in a harsh climate, bands of Northern Europeans developed altruism, tolerance and high intelligence. Said altruism has them project these traits onto others and welcome them into the society.Murray's last two chapters are satisfying summations: what might have been, and what will be. Most authors contrive a happy ending to a book like this. Murray does not. He envisions a Western Europe in which pockets of traditional people muddle through in small concentrations far from the cities. I myself emigrated to Ukraine, the other side of the Viasgrad countries. Though it is certainly beset with problems of its own, there is very little immigration. Not enough economically to entice anybody, and no historical guilt to impel the natives to accept refugees. Last year the town of Yagotin, not far from Kyiv, forced Ukraine's president to go back on a plan to resettle 250 Syrians in their midst. There were no cries of anguish from liberals.There is hope for Western Europe. The millennial generation is waking up. One of the most heartening books I've seen recently is  Generation Identity , translated into most European languages. Young Europeans are once again getting a sense of themselves and finding some purpose in life. They recognize that unchecked immigration is antithetical to that purpose.Table of Contents 1 The beginning 2 How we got hooked on immigration 3 The excuses we told ourselves 4 ‘Welcome to Europe’ 5 ‘We have seen everything’ 6 Multiculturalism 7 They are here 8 Prophets without honour 9 Early-warning sirens 10 The tyranny of guilt 11 The pretence of repatriation 12 Learning to live with it 13 Tiredness 14 We’re stuck with this 15 Controlling the backlash 16 The feeling that the story has run out 17 The end 18 What might have been 19 What will be

Anyone who has been paying attention to geopolitics over the last couple of years is aware of the migration crisis that hit Europe particularly hard in the summer of 2015. Millions of migrants from all over the Middle East, Africa and Asia traveled thousands of miles across dangerous terrain and treacherous waters to reach Europe's shores. In the aftermath of the original crisis, many began to question what Europe would look like in the future given the often extreme cultural differences existing between the migrants and their hosts. Douglas Murray attempts to answer this question and his findings are well-researched, while being unsettling and depressing at the same time.The book doesn't start off by discussing the events of 2015, but instead opts to provide the reader with a broader picture of a problem spanning decades. Starting off after WWII, the author shows how the politicians encouraged migrant workers to fill the gaps left by a diminished workforce.The understanding at the time of this policy, for both the politicians and the public, was that these workers would be guests who would eventually go back to their country of origin. When that didn't occur, the politicians turned on the public who were alarmed by their changing society. This leads to chapters on revenge, guilt, and the silencing of dissidents, (sometimes permanently), towards the immigration policies.The latter half of the book focuses on the migration crisis of recent years featuring discussions about Europe's culture via artists and authors, as well as what the implications are for the future of Europe. To summarize these chapters quite succinctly, it becomes clear that the politicians are at odds with the people and the future of an indigenous population with no sense of direction or purpose is a grim one indeed.This wasn't an easy book to read, but I feel it is a necessary one to get through in light of recent events. The descriptions of the dangers of an empty culture with no answers for the human condition or true progress for society at large particularly hit home for me, as modern culture has little to offer a person other than entertainment. The text relates all the instability, attacks and events that have occurred over the past few years clearly and leaves the reader wondering what will happen to a country where the world has been let inside of it with no real definition of what it should stand for. With no answers or real leadership in sight, the continent may be sleepwalking towards disaster.I'd recommend reading this if you're at all interested in how Europe got to the point that it's at now. This problem has been ongoing for decades and the results of ignoring it may lead to uprisings and chaos.

This is a brilliant and brave title that provides facts and information about the current tragic state of Europe. We in the UK are well aware of immigration levels, Islamic hatred/jihad and terrorists actions, and all their consequences. However, we are not allowed to discussed any of these openly. Additionally, memory and every day problems tend to push this awareness into background. Therefore to have such a well written and professional summary in one publication is helpful. Unfortunately, it is too late for Europe to take any steps towards reversing the very sad state of the affairs. IMHO, there are still some unclear issues, though, that cannot be easily explained. These include: WHY so many politicians promote/support damage to their own country and its population; how such a strict general censorship about the impact of immigration on NHS, housing, education etc was established; why promoting hatred towards a country is not considered a crime; a deeper analysis of the reasons why the situation in East Europe is so different; the potential impact of Brexit on various issues discussed in the book; analysis of jail population according to the religious believes (in the UK and elsewhere); the reason of numerous cases of conversion to Islam in British prisons. My minor reservations re this excellent book include some repetitions, lack of date (year) re some events, presentation of the appropriate data in graphs and tables, length of the paragraphs and chapters that make it difficult to read; and lack of a summary by each chapter. Generally, it is a very sad book about the very sad situation we are in.... .

A frightening indictment of our politicians who have ignored the wishes of the public for decades over immigration. In my view rather than showing leadership European politicians have shown extraordinary naivety, incompetence and deceit. Controlled immigration could have been a win-win for everybody. Instead, in the years ahead we will have to work out how to deal with non-integrated cultures, ghettos, anti-liberal movements and exploitation. This excellent book points out the problems. Our politicians will have to find the solutions.

Well written and gets a good sense of perspective on not only the current situation but identifies the root causes. We need to understand the reality dynamics and issues that are affecting the demography affecting the whole of the EU today, there is a hope that the mistakes of the past can be avoided, but with so much soundbite reporting in the media, it is only reading something as well researched as this that a better grasp of our dilemma comes into clarity and perspective. Never before has there been such a large scale migration bringing about a clash of cultures, expectations and demands upon the infrastructure of our society. There has been a lot of fudging the issue and misreporting of facts. Quoting his sources of information and tracing the history of how we have arrived at this point, whether you agree or disagree with immigration being one of the main issues affecting Brexit, read this book first to be better informed .

Quite a disturbing book. I read it with some trepidation as it could easily be just a right-wing rant, but there was no need for concern on that score. The content is a wake-up call, but one that is certain not to register with the generation that most needs to recognise it. There is no easy answer to the problem the author identifies, and no sign that any is on the way, which is why the book is disturbing. Well worth reading.

I bought this expecting a serious discussion of facts, policy debates, analysis of causes etc. given the blurb and reviews but I have been extremely disappointed. A standard polemicist lacking any insight, a book full of anecdotes and simplistic statements- lacking thoughtful cohesion other than the usual far right scaremongering, some of it particularly inflammatory. Many will clearly enjoy garden variety prejudice in a formal setting but for those who are seeking a more open debate and consider Britain to be a plural and tolerant global leader avoid wasting your money on this book.