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Oct 03, 2007

Thomas rated it:

Hmmm ... Curious, to say the least. Let me get this straight (no pun intended): Bruce Bawer is a gay New Yorker who hooked up with a European lover and now currently resides in Oslo, Norway. Yet, he is also a proud American and (yeesh) proud conservative who takes pot-shots against the US quite personally, even going so far at one point to chastise German kids for wearing Che Guevarra T-Shirts? Sounds as ridiculous as the Log Cabin Republicans -- like Paula Poundstone once noted, "Gay R More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 05, 2008

Skylar rated it:

Despite its subtitle, this book is not so much about radical Islam as it is about the essential cultural differences between the United States and Western Europe that make it less possible for Muslims to assimilate and liberalize in European countries than in the U.S. Although it made me concerned for the fate of Europe, it actually made me more optimistic about the future of Islam in America than did a sugar-coated apologetic like Who Really Speaks for Islam? Leave it to a gay New Yorker who fl More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 10, 2009

Spaniard rated it:

Two things stood out to me as i read this book. First, the dire situation that the old continent finds itself because of its cultural/economic socialism and immigration policies. The fact that Europeans have seriously slowed in having children is producing chaos for their economic system. How can Europeans enjoy the perks of their supposed 'socialist' government benefits if there are less and less of them (Europeans) to fill the employment void as more and more workers retire, in order for the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 24, 2008

Erik rated it:

Coming across this recently, I was initially surprised that the same Bruce Bawer who penned one of the great pro-gay rights books, "A Place at the Table", wrote this. Naturally, I picked it up having recently finished the mind-bending "A Death in Amsterdam."

I’m not the reactionary-type – being the liberal-minded gay man that I am. But Bawer did fully awaken my latent frustration and internal dilemma that our War on (Islamic) Terror has its justification, if not my More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 20, 2008

Peg rated it:

FRIENDS - somethingwrong with my goodreads profile, haven't received a piece of news from any of you (yet my neighbor Sandy Holland has). Please invite me to be a friend
aquarius2943@hotmail.com PEG RICHARDSON

2006 book by author of Place at the Table, Stealing Jesus, and Diminishing Fictions. Story of one American's experience in Europe before and after 9/11 and of his many arguments with Europeans about the dangers of militant Islam and America's role in combatting it. Author More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2009

Judy rated it:

I've sent this book to several friends. If they're not buying the war on terror from the American right, maybe they'll listen to a gay guy.

Bawer moved to Europe, enamored by "a world that had moved beyond bigotry," where "people's sense of identity and self-worth didn't depend on jobs or salaries," and folks "are appreciative of and satisfied with everyday pleasures." He wanted to love Europe, did love Europe, apparently still does.

All the mo More...

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Aug 05, 2011

Jeremy rated it:

As someone who has been following the problems Europeans have been having with Islamists, I found this book strongly resonant with the concerns I have for Europe and her culture.

I suspected that part of the reason Europe was in the fix it is now was due in part to her abandoning her Christian heritage. For all the problems European Christianity has had, it did provide Europe with a certain strength of character and a certain clarity of vision. Abandoning this backbone has left her defenseless More...

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May 05, 2011

Michael rated it:

As noted by reviewers elsewhere, this book does not present an unassailable case fortified by careful documentation. But if you don't expect it to, you'll get two excellent books in one: the personal story of a man who gains new appreciation for America's character after losing his idealized vision of European life in the course of actually living there, and a sweeping indictment of the political correctness and specious pacifism that could allow radical Islam to eclipse Western civilization on More...

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Apr 05, 2010

Patrick rated it:

This is the first book by Bruce Bawer that raises the alarm of what is being called the new rise of Islamic facism. There are several counterparts to this alarming book for it seems that if there is a rise of a hate group, there would be another counter hate group to go against that group and it will result into violence that would spread across Europe like the new hate group, the British National Party, a Neo-Nazi organization that many white people who are afraid or angry about the rise of Mus More...

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Jun 02, 2009

Christopher rated it:

As Bruce Bawer begins his book WHILE EUROPE SLEPT: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from within, he introduces himself as a gay man who moved to Amsterdam and Oslo and became appalled at how European countries are undermining their own fabled tolerance of gays and freedom of expression by condoning growing radical Islamist sentiment that is anything but tolerant. I am worried by the implications of EU demography, which suggest that unassimilated Muslims will soon wield immense political More...

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Jun 12, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Can you say the word . . . SCARY! This book depressed and terrified me, and it took me forever to get through it. Bruce Bawer exposes the horrors of the rapidly expanding Islamic movement through out Western Europe in this book. He describes in detail the mistreatment and degradation of women by Muslim men, their hatred of Jews, homosexuals and all things Western and American. He also harps on the fact that Western Europeans turn a blind eye the fact that their communities are being taken over b More...

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Feb 05, 2009

Bookmarks Magazine added it

Bruce Bawer, who has wrestled previously about American fundamentalism (Stealing Jesus) and gay rights (A Place at the Table), finds an equally contentious and compelling subject in the blind eye of European liberalism. Enchanted by the famed tolerance of Amsterdam, Bawer moved to Europe in 1998. But after settling in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood, the author noticed a society that offered "millions in aid, but not a penny in salary." Reviewers find Bawer an eloquent writer with

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May 09, 2009

Diane rated it:

I had expected this book to be about the growth of radical Islam, particularly in Europe, but it focused more on Europeans themselves and why they are not responding aggressively to the threat of radical Islam. The author moved to Europe ten years ago, and was astounded by the growing danger of Islamic radicalism and the fact that Europeans seemed to be doing little about it. The book offers the best analysis I've seen so far of the European psyche and why Europeans are so reluctant to confron More...

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Feb 06, 2010

Morris rated it:

Interesting book with similar message to "The Last Days of Europe". The author, a gay man with pretty conservative political attitudes left the US for Europe where his gay lifestyle was accepted by the Western Europeans. However, Muslim immigrants threatened and persecuted him and other gays. He was also put off that Europeans were quick to criticize US and Israeli leaders and policies, but were silent about local Islamic thuggery and international Islamic terrorism. He feels that W More...

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Jun 05, 2009

Anna rated it:

Bawer needs to cite sources when he throws blurbs like this--"And recently, four unprovoked Muslim youths attacked an old Jewish woman near Trifalgar Square"--into his prose; the timelines are confusing and his examples could be complete hearsay. Still, consider the fact that a liberal gay American and his partner moved to Europe to escape the Moral Majority and came to be two of George W. Bush's staunchest supporters on the war on terror after witnessing the transformation going on i More...

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Feb 19, 2010

Cassidy rated it:

This book is packed with relevant information regarding Islam and the threat it poses to western society should it not go through a reformation like Christianity did. Much of the problem arises out of Muslims who emigrate and mooch off their new country while using that country's resources to maintain damaging practices and belief systems such as female genital mutilation, refusing to educate women, and restricting basic freedoms such as speech and religion. I disagree with the author's litmus More...

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Jun 07, 2009

Angeldauria rated it:

The most tragic statement in this book, is when the author (or his partner?) confronts an Islamic male over his treatment of his wife. And the other partner says, (paraphrased) let it go, otherwise he will take it out on his wife later... There are not words to express the frustration of women and minorities in society. The older I get, working in corporate America, the more I understand the violent demonstration of ethnic groups in Africa (tie in "Left to Tell"). The anger is real More...

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Dec 24, 2010

Frank rated it:

Written in 2006 by one of the better writers and commentators around, the book is clear-eyed vision of what Europe refuses to acknowledge: terrorism comes in various forms and one of those forms is intimidation and veiled threats. Bawer, who has lived in Europe for years, gives a highly factual and focused account of what he has witnessed during his time there. Two points that stood out for me: 1) Timothy Garton Ash, in his recently published collection of essays ("Facts Are Subversive: P More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 20, 2010

Mariah rated it:

While I'd heard news stories about cultural tensions with Muslims in Europe esp. France I did not realize the full extent of these problems.
Bawer details many outrageous human rights abuses especially of women, children, gay and Jewish people by Muslim immigrants.
He blames European countries' policies of multiculturalism & cultural relativism for being so "tolerant" of Islam that they turn a blind eye towards extremism. He claims that any criticism of Islam is suppressed More...

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Jan 05, 2009

Denise rated it:

I read this book a couple of years ago and since then have also read "The Death of the West" (couldn't quite get through it!) and "America Alone". All three books deal with the deterioration of Western civilization, but this book was the best of the three, by far in my opinion. It is a pretty conservative view point from a very unexpected source. Well written, eye-opening and thought-provoking.

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Nov 07, 2008

Rachel rated it:

I didn't get more than a third of the way through this before I had to return it to the library so it's not a really fair review but I felt like this was a unnecessarily lenghty, difficult book to read.

The author seemed to attempt to use isolated incidences to describe what he purports to be an epidemic of radical islam consuming Europe. I was somewhat wary of this presumption because he very clearly implies that he believes "fundamental Christians" to be at the root of ev More...

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Jan 11, 2009

Geoff rated it:

Great book! Bruce Bawer confronts the very real threat of Islam head on. Having lived in Europe for two years, I have seen up front what Bawer discusses in his book - Islam taking over Europe - not with violence but through migration and a refusal to adapt to modern ways. Very good!

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Jun 12, 2008

Miles rated it:

This book was fairly predictable as it kept the same premise throughout the entire read: Europe is slowly self-destructing due to low native birth rates and high immigration from increasingly fundamentalist-leaning muslims. The author argues that Europe is reaching a tipping point in balance of power, and that if you think immigrants can't possibly have political power already, think again. The author cites personal anecdotal evidences that although he is a social liberal and democrat, he agre More...

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Jul 03, 2009

Peter rated it:

The best book I have read. Bawer proves that 2+2=5. He uses anecdotes combined with statistics to warn of the loss of Europe to the Muslim world in the near future.

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Jul 14, 2009

Adam rated it:

Bruce's perspective while writing this book comes from his experiences living in Scandinavia. He spends about a third of the book talking about the threat that Islam is to Europe and the western world, and the other parts of the book railing against the European media, politicians, and elites. It is an interesting book, but I was glad when it ended.

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Aug 02, 2011

Brenda added it

It's been a fascinating experience reading this book at the same time that I read 'Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Pluralism.' One discusses Europe and America, the other just Canada and what a unique situation we are in. The one tells us not to become alarmed at what is happening around the world because we are different. The other tells me that thinking like that is what may get Europe run over. Is the attitude of 'it can't happen here' really the right attitude to tak More...

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Oct 06, 2011

Amicus rated it:

A salutary warning of the trends which will destroy a millenium of European civilisation, if people do not wake up.

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Feb 25, 2009

Beth rated it:

I still haven't worked out my final opinions on whether or not or how much I agree with this book, but the author does make a lot of good points. Very interesting read.

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May 02, 2008

Janet rated it:

Ouch! You're gonna love it or hate it, because Bruce Bawer takes no prisoners. It's a polemic, but an articulate, informed, and passionate one. Bawer is encyclopedic in his knowledge of immigration politics and media coverage of hate crimes in Europe.

I came to this book with a knowledge deficit about the perceived threat of radical Islam in Europe. I left persuaded that my mother, whose parents were Polish, was right all along in her assessment of Europe's relationship with immigran More...

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Dec 27, 2010

Luigib rated it:

Excellent book on a problem facing Europe and to a lesser extent, the US

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