Murder in Amsterdam - by Ian Buruma (Paperback)

About the Book

In 2004, the celebrated and controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was shot and killed by an Islamic extremist for making a movie that insulted the prophet Mohammed. Buruma returned to his native land to investigate the shocking event and its larger meaning.

Book Synopsis

A revelatory look at what happens when political Islam collides with the secular West

Ian Buruma's Murder in Amsterdam is a masterpiece of investigative journalism, a book with the intimacy and narrative control of a crime novel and the analytical brilliance for which Buruma is renowned. On a cold November day in Amsterdam in 2004, the celebrated and controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was shot and killed by an Islamic extremist for making a movie that "insulted the prophet Mohammed." The murder sent shock waves across Europe and around the world. Shortly thereafter, Ian Buruma returned to his native land to investigate the event and its larger meaning as part of the great dilemma of our time.

Review Quotes

"Fascinating . . . Characteristically vivid and astute." --Timothy Garton Ash, The New York Review of Books

"[Murder in Amsterdam] is a work of philosophical and narrative tension, strikingly sharp and brooding, frank and openly curious." --San Francisco Chronicle

"Shrewd, subtly argued." --The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Ian Buruma is editor of The New York Review of Books. His previous books include Their Promised Land, Year Zero, The China Lover, Murder in Amsterdam, Occidentalism, God's Dust, Behind the Mask, The Wages of Guilt, Bad Elements, and Taming the Gods.