Infidel [Anglais] [Broché]

‘I believe criticising Islam is not racist’
‘Credo’ page feature Independent on Sunday 11/2
‘You really must read...
From Somalia to Holland and America, the story of a remarkable life’
Sunday Times 11/2
‘It’s been a week since I finished Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s remarkable autobiography, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it or talking about it for long. I’d recommend her story to anyone’
Daily Telegraph 17/2
‘This really is an extraordinary story… Whatever you think about Hirsi Ali, it’s difficult to deny her bravery’
Independent on Sunday 18/2
‘We need this autobiography, because Hirsi Ali’s life is her message. Her journey from repressed Islamic woman to free Dutch citizen has become a fable of our age. Her story, plus her beauty, have made her a voice in a global debate: are Islam and western society compatible? For better or worse, this stunning book will amplify that voice…she tells an astonishing story’
FT 17/2
‘Reasonable extremist’ Article
‘Her new book Infidel, an autobiography, puts her life story and her position into a frame which should make it rather more difficult to dismiss her argument. By any standards it is an enthralling story about her life between three continents and several geostrategic cross-current’
Bella Thomas, Prospect, March ‘07
‘A harrowing story about the price paid for freedom of expression, Hirsi Ali’s memoir makes an important contribution to the current debate on certain factions of Islam, the West and the bedrock values that cannot be compromised to accommodate religious fundamentalism’
Glasgow Herald 18/2
‘Born in Somali and raised in a traditional Muslim family, Ayaan Hirsi Ali escaped a forced marriage and moved to Holland, where she is now a leading politician and campaigner against the exploitations and repression of Muslim women. ‘Infidel’ is the remarkable story of her life and her extraordinary transformation from devout believer to champion of women’s rights’
Waterstone’s Books Quarterly April issue
‘Her life story is a remarkable and moving tale, superbly well told…Her personal story is so compelling that her account of it deserves its bestseller status’
TLS 6/4
She can write with light luminous prose…[Hirsi] Ali experiences family love and hate, betrayals and sacrifices, strong women who can turn viciously cruel. Her description of her own genital mutilation is masterful, told without too much lingering on the agony and all the more agonising for that’
Independent 2/3
‘For pure energy and readability, Ali’s autobiography is the winner. She proves herself here a true writer, able to sum up a scene that may be completely foreign to the reader in a way that makes it a living, breathing experience, unforgettably raw and immediate…Critics of Ali should be chastened by this book. Her journey from a good Muslim girl to a highly thoughtful and ethical atheist is a sympathetic one, and there is nothing intolerant about her views in this book. Clearly, many of her detractors from the west as well as the east are made nervous by the female independence she embodies, and want to bring down her sturdy, energetic optimism. But we should celebrate it, even if we see that her views may not work for all women’
Guardian 3/3
‘Infidel is an extraordinary story, not least for the violence of Hirsi Ali’s life, and her emotional and intellectual search for a morality that seemed to her just. But what remains long in the mind from this troubling and well-written memoir is a picture of the ferocity of the divisions that separate the West from many tenets of strict Islamic belief, and their closeness to the surface of life. Reading Infidel, you feel that on some level at least the real debate on multiculturalism is only just beginning’
Literary Review, March issue
‘We need this autobiography, because Hirsi Ali’s life is her message. Her journey from repressed Islamic woman to free Dutch citizen has become a fable of our age. Her story, plus her beauty, have made her a voice in a global debate: are Islam and western society compatible? For better or worse, this stunning book will amplify that voice…she tells an astonishing story’
Her new book Infidel, an autobiography, puts her life story and her position into a frame which should make it rather more difficult to dismiss her argument. By any standards it is an enthralling story about her life between three continents and several geostrategic cross-current’
Bella Thomas, Prospect, March ‘07
‘A harrowing story about the price paid for freedom of expression, Hirsi Ali’s memoir makes an important contribution to the current debate on certain factions of Islam, the West and the bedrock values that cannot be compromised to accommodate religious fundamentalism’
Glasgow Herald 18/2
‘An extraordinary journey away from Islam’
Evening Standard summer books 2/7
‘Intrepid champion of Islamic reform looks back on her troubled upbringing’
Sunday Times summer books 1/7
‘An astonishing autobiography by a woman who has become one of Europe’s most ardent feminists and anti-Islamic campaigners’
Financial Times summer books 23/6
'Fascinating'
Penny Wark, The Times
'In exposing these uncomfortable truths, Hirsi Ali's style is abrasive, confrontational, though never simplistic in its analysis of the complex overlays of faith, ethnicity and identity . . . Infidel is a riposte, controversial and compelling, to her critics. Hirsi Ali has invited them to walk a mile in her shoes. Most wouldn't last a hundred yards'
Aminatta Forna, Evening Standard
'If there is one book that really addresses the existential issues of our civilisation, then Hirsi Ali's autobiography is it. That it is brilliantly and soberly written is a bonus. That at thirty-eight she has plenty of time for more books - maybe about her impressions of America - leads to keen anticipation'
Michael Burleigh, Sunday Telegraph
'She is a thinker of stunning clarity, able to express ideas in her third language with a precision that very few could achieve in their first. This combination of elegance and eloquence would be impressive in any circumstances. Under threat of death, it is nothing short of incredible . . . How she went from devout believer to fearless opponent, from a loyal clan member to being renounced by her family, from Africa to Europe, and from blind faith to unbending reason is the compelling story she tells in her new autobiography entitled, with characteristic bluntness, Infidel'
Andrew Anthony, Observer
'[A] rather remarkable book . . . Infidel shows that a determined woman can change more history than her own'
Christopher Hitchens, Sunday Times
'Brave, inspiring and beautifully written. Narrated in clear, vigorous prose, it traces the author's geographical journey from Mogadishu to Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, and her desperate flight to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage. At the same time, Ms Hirsi Ali describes a journey from "the world of faith to the world of reason", a long, often bitter struggle to come to terms with her religion and the clan-based traditional society that defined her world and that of millions of Muslims the world over'
William Grimes, New York Times
'It's been a week since I finished reading Ayaan Hirsi Ali's remarkable autobiography, and I haven't stopped thinking about it or talking about it for long. I'd recommend her story to anyone: man, woman, Muslim, Christian, Jew - because it drags some hideous truths out from the shadows, and because it shows that even the most hopeless life can be transformed by the right mix of chance and choice. I'd recommend it not just because it's fascinating, but because the author's transformation - from devout Muslim to atheistic humanist - will set you off on an unpredictable run of emotions, starting with shock, admiration, gratitude - and ending, perhaps, with a touch of unease'
Mary Wakefield, Daily Telegraph
'This really is an extraordinary story . . . Whatever you think of Hirsi Ali, it's difficult to deny her bravery'
Tom Boncza-Tomaszewski, Independent on Sunday
'We needed this autobiography, because Hirsi Ali's life is her message. Her journey from repressed Islamic woman to free Dutch citizen has become a fable of our age. Her story, plus her beauty, have made her a voice in a global debate: are Islam and Western society compatible? For better or worse, this stunning book will amplify that voice . . . She tells an astonishing story . . . She has started a crucial debate, at the cost of endangering her life'
Simon Kuper, Financial Times
'In Infidel, Hirsi Ali tells her amazing life story'
Australian Vogue
'Ayaan Hirsi Ali has survived genital mutilation, civil war, a forced marriage and numerous death threats but she won't be silenced. Infidel is the story of her life and is one of the most absorbing books I have read in a long time . . . Her book offers an illuminating look at Islam, and emphasises the view that religious tolerance should never come at the cost of basic human rights. Infidel is a must-read
Sunshine Coast Daily
'From her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia to her rise as one of the world's most eloquent and determined champions of free speech, this enlightening memoir of an admired and controversial political figure reveals how Hirsi Ali developed her beliefs and maintains her resolve to fight injustice and change the world'
Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin
'Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a crusader . . . an Infidel indeed . . . This articulate autobiography is worth reading for both its political and religious perspectives and because Hirsi Ali's life is so fascinating'
The Age
'The death threat received by Ayaan Hirsi Ali demanded to be taken more seriously, mostly because of its mode of delivery: staked to the dying body of Theo van Gogh, her colla

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of today's most admired and controversial political figures. She burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened she would be next. An international bestseller, her life story INFIDEL shows the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of free speech.
Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright, curious, dutiful little girl evolves into a pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no other book could be more timely, or more significant.