Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance

293 Pages·2006·11.56 MB·English

by  Ian Buruma

M U R D ER
IN
A M S T E R D AM
The Death of Theo van Gogh
and the
Limits of Tolerance
I AN B U R U MA
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR MURDER IN AMSTERDAM
"Buruma is one of the planet's wisest heads and best writers about the politics
of national identity, civilization, and culture. With the eye of a novelist and
the erudition of scholar, he finds in the frenzy of soccer fans no less than in the
history of the last several centuries an explanation for the violence that has
erupted in the land of Rembrandt and tulips. This is a book about much more
than a single crime in a single city. It is a brilliant insight into what ails Europe
and, more broadly, our globalized world."
—STROBE TALBOTT, president, Brookings Institution
"I heartily recommend Buruma's book. He has written a vivid account that is both
serious and witty, and cuts through the clichés about multiculturalism. This book
is not just about the murder of Van Gogh in Holland; it is about the nature of
Islam in Europe and, by extension, about the soul-searching quest among the
Europeans themselves for a European identity."
-OLIVIER ROY, author of Globalized Islam
"Ian Buruma's Murder in Amsterdam provides the reader with an extraordinary
understanding of the dramatic change in European societies in the age of
multiculturalism. An eye-opener."
—GILLES KEPEL, author of The War for Muslim Minds
"Ian Buruma is surely one of the finest literary journalists at work today. In
Murder in Amsterdam, he delivers a searching and brilliant meditation on
Holland's—and by extension much of the West's—encounter with Islam. With
great care he dissects the interaction of Dutch culture, with its paternalistic
tolerance and xenophobic nostalgia, with the alienation and cultural traditional
ism of Muslim immigrants. It is a deeply humane and troubling book on a subject
that will be with us for a long time—not the last book on the subject but the
one that will inform all that follow." -DANIEL BENJAMIN,
coauthor of The Age of Sacred Terror and The Next Attack
U.S. $24.95
Canada $32.50
IAN BURUMA RETURNS TO HIS
NATIVE LAND TO EXPLORE, THROUGH
THE STORY OF THE MURDER OF A
FAMOUS FILMMAKER AT THE HANDS
OF AN ISLAMIC EXTREMIST,
THE GREAT DILEMMA OF OUR TIME
•
IT WAS THE EMBLEMATIC CRIME of our
moment: On a cold November day in Amster
dam, an angry young Muslim man, Mohammed
Bouyeri, the son of Moroccan immigrants, shot
and killed the celebrated and controversial Dutch
filmmaker Theo van Gogh, great-grandnephew
of Vincent and iconic European provocateur, for
making a movie with the Dutch politician Ayaan
Hirsi Ali that "insulted the prophet Mohammed."
After Bouyeri shot Van Gogh, he calmly stood
over the body and cut his throat with a curved
machete, as if performing a ritual sacrifice, which
in a very real sense he was.
The murder horrified quiet, complacent,
prosperous Holland, a country that prides itself
on being a bastion of tolerance, and sent shock
waves across Europe and around the world.
Shortly thereafter, Ian Buruma returned to the
country of his childhood to investigate the event
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(continued from front flap)
and its larger meaning. The result is his master
piece: a book with the intimacy and narrative
control of a crime novel and the analytical
brilliance for which Buruma is renowned. Ian
Buruma's entire life's work has led him to this
story—the tale of what happens when political
Islam collides with the secular West, and toler
ance finds its limits.
IAN BURUMA is currently the Luce Professor
at Bard College. His previous books include God's
Dust, Behind the Mask, The Missionary and the
Libertine, Playing the Game, The Wages of Guilt,
Anglomania, and Bad Elements.
The A MEMBER OF PENGUIN GROUP CUSAI INC.
Penguin 375 Hudson Street, New York. N.Y. 100H
Press www.penguin.com
Murder
in
A m s t e r d am

ALSO BY IAN BURUMA
Behind the Mask
God's Dust
Playing the Game
The Wages of Guilt
The Missionary and the Libertine
Anglomania: A European Love Affair
Bad Elements
Inventing Japan
Occidentalism
Conversations with John Schlesinger
THE PENGUIN PRESS
NEW YORK
2006
M u r d er
in
A m s t e r d am
The Death
of
Theo van Gogh
and the
Limits of Tolerance
IAN BURUMA