Infidel

This New York Times bestseller is the astonishing life story of award-winning humanitarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a deeply respected advocate for free speech and women’s rights. In this memoir, she describes her traditional Muslim upbringing and her evolution as a person, thinker, and freedom fighter.

Hirsi Ali survived civil war, mutilation, and brutal physical abuse before escaping an arranged marriage and seeking asylum in the Netherlands. There, she earned a political science degree before joining parliament and leading the fight for Islamic reform. In 2004 she became international news when Theo van Gogh, her partner on the controversial film Submission, was assassinated by a Muslim terrorist. Now Hirsi Ali—whose outspoken criticism of Islam has never wavered—lives under armed protection, but continues her fight.

Reading her own words, Hirsi Ali commands our attention with a powerful book that, in a world of growing religious extremism, is both timely and vital.