Since 2015 and the flood of refugees and others hit Europe immigration has turned into a
hot button political issue. The Strange Death of Europe is an analytical approach to the
phenomenon of mass migration into Europe.
First the numbers. The book is 320 pages of text divided into 19 topical chapters with an
introduction, notes, and an index.
If you live in Europe then you cannot help but be aware that immigration, particularly
that by Muslims has increased markedly in the past few years. Indeed, it is so noticeable that the
stresses imposed by it, not even to mention terrorism, are starting to make themselves felt in
European politics as nationalist/populist parties (Germany’s AfD, Five Star Movement in Italy,
Greece’s Golden Dawn, etc) are on the rise.
Douglas Murray tries to explain why uncontrolled migration into Europe is not a good
thing and he attempts to do so in less than inflammatory way, which is not as common as it
perhaps should be. He examines the historical instances of mass migration in post-World War II
Europe and contrasts that experience with the last 5-10 years.
The main point he makes, or that I took away at least, is that there is an elite segment of
the politically powerful in Europe that see uncontrolled immigration as an electoral good for
them and for that reason they will continue to obstruct and argue against immigration controls
even if that means the destruction of traditional, native, European culture. To support his
contention he deploys an impressive array of statistics and anecdotes along with some fairly
insightful analysis. He argues his thesis quite well.
There is no question that the book is provocative, there is also no question that the topic
is relevant to today. The strange thing is that just about everything he says about uncontrolled
Muslim and sub-Saharan migration into Europe applies equally well when discussing
uncontrolled migration into the US by south Americans with the exception that most south
Americans are Christians so the terrorism angle is not there but to make up for that gang violence
from south America is imported in the US alongside those who just want to better their lives.
I found the book to be a good read and thoughtful if at times in danger of descending into
stridency. If nothing else, it is thought provoking and does not shy away from tackling a divisive
issue. I recommend this book.
