Publishers Weekly
10/26/2020
Somali-born political activist Hirsi Ali (Heretic) argues in this contentious account that liberal immigration policies have led to an influx of young Muslim men bringing regressive cultural ideas and sexual violence to Europe. She blames German chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2015 suspension of European Union asylum protocols for Syrian refugees, and the criminality of failed asylum seekers, for increases in sexual violence in Germany; accuses European politicians of hiding crime data out of fear of losing liberal support; and argues that local law enforcement is too soft and unprepared to deal with sexually violent gangs. Western feminists don’t understand the regressiveness of traditional Muslim attitudes toward women, Hirsi Ali claims, or comprehend that basic public safety is a feminist issue. She also explains modesty culture and attacks Muslim immigrants for creating “parallel societies” and utilizing state welfare rather than productively integrating into European communities. Her proposed solutions include changing the asylum system to better assess immigrants’ likelihood to assimilate, tightening border patrols, and European military involvement in Iraq and Syria. Though she paints Islam with a broad and overly negative brush and risks intensifying anti-Muslim xenophobia, Hirsi Ali provides valuable, gut-wrenching testimony from victims of sexual violence. This harrowing polemic is sure to spark controversy. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
[Ayaan] Hirsi Ali offers strong evidence for her bound-to-be contentious claims in this in-depth and harrowing volume” — Booklist
“Prey exposes a shocking wave of sex crimes across supposedly enlightened Europe. In bracing terms, Ayaan Hirsi Ali defends the rights of women while advocating for a new model of integration for immigrants. Casting aside political correctness and conventional wisdom, Prey is a timely reminder that freedom—indeed, civilization itself—is not a birthright but must be nurtured and protected by each generation.” — Senator Thomas Cotton
“Drawing on her hard knocks as a Somali immigrant and triumphs as a European legislator, Ayaan Hirsi Ali confronts multiethnic Europe’s most intractable problem: an inability to defend its feminist culture against the machismo of its mostly Muslim immigrants. Prey is the best book on the subject: broad in its culture, punctilious in its research, bold and original in its arguments.” — Christopher Caldwell
“Throughout Europe, mismanaged immigration policies are eroding the hard-won rights of women. With her signature grace and lucidity, Ayaan Hirsi Ali documents this alarming development and offers bold, original, and humane solutions. Prey is not a diatribe against multiculturalism—it is a guide to preserving and enriching it. This brilliant and timely book is compulsory reading for anyone who cares about the fate of liberal democracy.” — Christina Hoff Sommers
“Prey warns us that if we do not rethink our philosophy for protecting women and children, we risk losing one of Western civilization’s most precious assets: the rule of law.” — Henry A. Kissinger
“In an age of identity politics, the lack of will to deal with our greatest cultural challenges does not make them disappear. It just empowers the most extreme and intolerant voices. In Prey, intrepid civil libertarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali summons the West to confront a remorseless truth: that enabling mass Islamic immigration while lacking the will to acculturate Muslims to Western norms and laws has inevitably eroded the rights and endangered the lives of women—not just Muslim women, all women. A brave and brilliant book.” — Andrew McCarthy
“Prey is a rigorous and shocking exposé of a sexual abuse crisis occurring right in the open, in seemingly progressive Europe. Empathetic and authoritative, Ayaan Hirsi Ali demonstrates why we cannot let political correctness and apathy overwhelm our duty to protect women’s rights.” — Megyn Kelly
“Once again Ayaan Hirsi Ali goes where others do not dare. Here she forensically, carefully, and devastatingly exposes one of the worst—and most ignored—scandals of our time. People of all backgrounds and all political persuasions owe her a debt of gratitude for exposing a scandal that has long cried out for the serious and deep treatment it receives here.” — Douglas Murray
“Reconciling women’s rights in Western countries with mass immigration remains a sensitive subject. In Prey, leading humanitarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali constructively explores this topic, drawing on a wealth of knowledge and data to illustrate key tensions between cultural relativism and women’s rights in the twenty-first century. She courageously urges all of us—men, women, those living in Western countries and those living in non-Western countries—to firmly defend the universality of human rights and ensure their continued preservation.” — Senator Ben Sasse
“In this groundbreaking work of research, Ayaan Hirsi Ali documents a disturbing wave of sexual violence in Europe. A vital and essential work, Prey shows what the next step for #MeToo must be.” — Mark Levin
Henry A. Kissinger
Prey warns us that if we do not rethink our philosophy for protecting women and children, we risk losing one of Western civilization’s most precious assets: the rule of law.
Booklist
[Ayaan] Hirsi Ali offers strong evidence for her bound-to-be contentious claims in this in-depth and harrowing volume
Megyn Kelly
Prey is a rigorous and shocking exposé of a sexual abuse crisis occurring right in the open, in seemingly progressive Europe. Empathetic and authoritative, Ayaan Hirsi Ali demonstrates why we cannot let political correctness and apathy overwhelm our duty to protect women’s rights.
Christina Hoff Sommers
Throughout Europe, mismanaged immigration policies are eroding the hard-won rights of women. With her signature grace and lucidity, Ayaan Hirsi Ali documents this alarming development and offers bold, original, and humane solutions. Prey is not a diatribe against multiculturalism—it is a guide to preserving and enriching it. This brilliant and timely book is compulsory reading for anyone who cares about the fate of liberal democracy.
Andrew McCarthy
In an age of identity politics, the lack of will to deal with our greatest cultural challenges does not make them disappear. It just empowers the most extreme and intolerant voices. In Prey, intrepid civil libertarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali summons the West to confront a remorseless truth: that enabling mass Islamic immigration while lacking the will to acculturate Muslims to Western norms and laws has inevitably eroded the rights and endangered the lives of women—not just Muslim women, all women. A brave and brilliant book.
Douglas Murray
Once again Ayaan Hirsi Ali goes where others do not dare. Here she forensically, carefully, and devastatingly exposes one of the worst—and most ignored—scandals of our time. People of all backgrounds and all political persuasions owe her a debt of gratitude for exposing a scandal that has long cried out for the serious and deep treatment it receives here.
Christopher Caldwell
Drawing on her hard knocks as a Somali immigrant and triumphs as a European legislator, Ayaan Hirsi Ali confronts multiethnic Europe’s most intractable problem: an inability to defend its feminist culture against the machismo of its mostly Muslim immigrants. Prey is the best book on the subject: broad in its culture, punctilious in its research, bold and original in its arguments.
Senator Ben Sasse
Reconciling women’s rights in Western countries with mass immigration remains a sensitive subject. In Prey, leading humanitarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali constructively explores this topic, drawing on a wealth of knowledge and data to illustrate key tensions between cultural relativism and women’s rights in the twenty-first century. She courageously urges all of us—men, women, those living in Western countries and those living in non-Western countries—to firmly defend the universality of human rights and ensure their continued preservation.
Senator Thomas Cotton
Prey exposes a shocking wave of sex crimes across supposedly enlightened Europe. In bracing terms, Ayaan Hirsi Ali defends the rights of women while advocating for a new model of integration for immigrants. Casting aside political correctness and conventional wisdom, Prey is a timely reminder that freedom—indeed, civilization itself—is not a birthright but must be nurtured and protected by each generation.
Mark Levin
In this groundbreaking work of research, Ayaan Hirsi Ali documents a disturbing wave of sexual violence in Europe. A vital and essential work, Prey shows what the next step for #MeToo must be.
Booklist
[Ayaan] Hirsi Ali offers strong evidence for her bound-to-be contentious claims in this in-depth and harrowing volume
Kirkus Reviews
2020-11-27
An outspoken critic of Islamic extremism identifies a threat to women's safety.
Women’s rights activist Ali mounts a scathing critique of migrant Muslim men who perpetrate sexual violence against women throughout Europe. Between 2014 and 2017, when immigration increased dramatically, the author provides evidence that rape and sexual assault increased, as well, enacted by men coming from cultures in which women are often exploited. In Muslim-majority countries—like Ali’s native Somalia—women are considered second-class citizens: denied education; confined to their homes for much of the time, allowed outside only when monitored by male family members; and treated as commodities by their fathers and husbands, subjected to “honor violence, female genital mutilation, and forced marriage.” In Europe, men from such contexts repeat sexually aggressive behaviors, “not because they feel inferior or oppressed; it is because they think they can get away with it, just as they did back home.” Fearful of being branded racist or xenophobic, European authorities—and even liberal feminists—tend to deny the problem, offering “poor advice and bogus solutions” that often entail blaming the victims. Although Ali stresses that she does not want to fuel populist arguments for closed borders, she vigorously argues for reforms that will mitigate the "causal connection" between migration and sex crimes. She proposes radical restrictions on immigration to allow entry only to those cognizant of “the culture, laws, and norms of the society they wish to join,” willing to adapt to European liberal values; and to keep out those she calls “menaces” (unemployable, attracted to crime), religious zealots, and “coasters” who will live off welfare benefits and populate segregated ghettos. Migrants who refuse to adapt within a year or two should be deported. At the same time, Ali asserts, Europe must take responsibility to stabilize Muslim countries from which migrants seek to flee.
An impassioned analysis sure to incite controversy.
