Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Infidel

By: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Paperback | 1 April 2008

At a Glance

Paperback


$39.40

or 4 interest-free payments of $9.85 with

 or 

Aims to ship in 10 to 15 business days

In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of "The Caged Virgin, " Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.

One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie "Submission."

"Infidel" is the eagerly awaited story of the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of free speech. With a gimlet eye and measured, often ironic, voice, Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries largely ruled by despots. In her early twenties, she escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Even though she is under constant threat -- demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from her family and clan -- she refuses to be silenced.

Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright little girl evolved out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no story could be timelier or more significant.

Industry Reviews
"A brave and elegant figure...an honest woman...No one who reads her [memoirs] will doubt the self-questioning and the rigorous honesty of her mind. Perhaps, as in Voltaire's short story 'L'Ing�nu, ' it is that too much honesty is sometimes unpalatable, even if it is couched in civil terms...She has an open mind that has released itself from the old straitjacketed frame of reference of Right and Left, she is instinctively, deeply antiauthoritarian and she is unlikely to stick to straight ideological lines. She will go on asking difficult questions." -- Isabella Thomas, The Observer "A charismatic figure...of arresting and hypnotizing beauty...[who writes] with quite astonishing humor and restraint." -- Christopher Hitchens "Too potent a social critic to be tolerated any longer [in her home country]...an unflinching advocate of women's rights and an unflinching critic of Islamic extremism." -- The New York Times "Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of Europe's most controversial political figures and a target for terrorists. A notably enigmatic personality whose fierce criticisms of Islam have made her a darling of...conservatives...and...popular with leftists...Soft-spoken but passionate." -- The Boston Globe

More in Historical, Political and Military Biographies

Unleashed - Boris Johnson

Paperback

RRP $49.99

$38.75

22%
OFF
A Voyage Around The Queen : A Biography of Queen Elizabeth II - Craig Brown
Elizabeth and John : The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm - Alan Atkinson
The Happiest Man on Earth - Eddie Jaku

RRP $32.99

$31.35

One Life : The True Story of Sir Nicholas Winton - Barbara Winton
Ruth Bader Ginsburg : A Life in American History - Nancy Hendricks
First Man In : Leading from the Front - Ant Middleton

RRP $24.99

$23.75

PATRIOT - Alexei Navalny

Hardcover

RRP $55.00

$39.90

27%
OFF