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The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.7 out of 5 stars 6,660 ratings
#1 Best Seller in Islamic Social Studies

The Strange Death of Europe is a highly personal account of a continent and culture caught in the act of suicide. Declining birth rates, mass immigration, and cultivated self-distrust and self-hatred have come together to make Europeans unable to argue for themselves and incapable of resisting their own comprehensive alteration as a society and an eventual end.

This is not just an analysis of demographic and political realities; it is also an eyewitness account of a continent in self-destruct mode. It includes accounts based on travels across the entire continent, from the places where migrants land to the places they end up, from the people who pretend they want them to the places which cannot accept them.

Murray takes a step back at each stage and looks at the bigger and deeper issues which lie behind a continent's possible demise, from an atmosphere of mass terror attacks to the steady erosion of our freedoms. The audiobook addresses the disappointing failure of multiculturalism, Angela Merkel's U-turn on migration, the lack of repatriation, and the Western fixation on guilt. Murray travels to Berlin, Paris, Scandinavia, Lampedusa, and Greece to uncover the malaise at the very heart of the European culture and to hear the stories of those who have arrived in Europe from far away.

This sharp and incisive audiobook ends up with two visions for a new Europe - one hopeful, one pessimistic - which paint a picture of Europe in crisis and offer a choice as to what, if anything, we can do next. But perhaps Spengler was right: 'civilizations, like humans, are born, briefly flourish, decay, and die'.

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  1. Listening Length
    12 hours and 17 minutes
  2. Author
    Douglas Murray
  3. Narrator
    Robert Davies
  4. Audible release date
    May 4, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Audible Studios for Bloomsbury
  7. ASIN
    B06X9FP3RF
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length 12 hours and 17 minutes
Author Douglas Murray
Narrator Robert Davies
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date May 04, 2017
Publisher Audible Studios for Bloomsbury
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B06X9FP3RF
Best Sellers Rank #7,039 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#1 in Islamic Social Studies
#3 in Emigration & Immigration Studies (Books)
#4 in Emigration & Immigration Studies (Audible Books & Originals)

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4.7 out of 5 stars
6,660 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well-researched and thought-provoking, describing it as a fascinating account with articulate writing. The book receives mixed reactions regarding its scariness and sadness levels, with many finding it frightening and depressing.

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241 customers mention "Information quality"229 positive12 negative

Customers find the book informative and well-researched, describing it as erudite and thought-provoking.

"...book on the effects of uncontrolled, and unsupervised immigration upon the societies of Western Europe...." Read more

"Wonderful read, and highly recommended. Have been following Douglas Murray for quite some time now, and this book will definitely not disappoint." Read more

"This is an important if troubling book. Douglas Murray is a British political commentator who was educated at Eton and Oxford (as was David Cameron)...." Read more

"...It's an eye-opener." Read more

223 customers mention "Readability"220 positive3 negative

Customers find the book engaging and fascinating, describing it as a must-read.

"...This was a very good book, very readable. Everyone should read and think about it." Read more

"Wonderful read, and highly recommended. Have been following Douglas Murray for quite some time now, and this book will definitely not disappoint." Read more

"...He is not a moderate; keep that in mind. But that said, it is a good book to read if you want to understand the anti-immigration parties in Europe,..." Read more

"...Murray does a nice job of mixing anecdotal descriptions of culture clashes with philosophical underpinnings of western decay and, for good measure,..." Read more

116 customers mention "Writing quality"98 positive18 negative

Customers praise the book's writing quality, noting its stunning clarity of language and insight, while being well thought out and concise.

"...This was a very good book, very readable. Everyone should read and think about it." Read more

"...current "woke" view of Western civilization and history was pretty well developed. I mostly agreed with his summary of the situation...." Read more

"...It is very well written, concise, and very comprehensive!..." Read more

"...This is a well researched and well written piece that raises the mirror up to reality for all of us to appreciate...." Read more

47 customers mention "Scariness level"20 positive27 negative

Customers have mixed reactions to the book's scariness level, with some finding it rather frightening and highly disturbing, while others disagree.

"...Weird stuff, beware!" Read more

"This book is excellent and scary at the same time, almost sad because it seems to be too late for the west to withstand this massive ethnic change;..." Read more

"...European guilt, sado-masochism, and mediocre art add further angles to the unsettling discussion...." Read more

"Prophetic. Happening now. The great replacement." Read more

29 customers mention "Sadness"9 positive20 negative

Customers have mixed reactions to the book's emotional content, with some finding it very sad and sobering, while others describe it as depressing.

"...in the book, I think that the projections and the conclusions are a little too pessimistic...." Read more

"This is a very sad book to read for anyone that loves Europe, its history, culture, people, architecture, etc...." Read more

"...He lampoons the ineptitude, indecision and self-defeating thought processes that have infected Europe in recent decades- a people taught to be..." Read more

"Very readable but troubling book that explains the situation in Europe resulting from mass migration from the Middle East and Africa...." Read more

Five Stars
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Five Stars
My copy had one of its endpapers torn. Not worth returning & cutting down another tree but still, harrumph.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Trainman95630
    5.0 out of 5 stars On the brink of losing Europe
    Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This is a timely book on the effects of uncontrolled, and unsupervised immigration upon the societies of Western Europe. Douglas Murray offers a critical look at the policy choices made by European governments after World War 2 to import workers from many of their former colonies in order to alleve perceived labor shortages. Without any real thought or planning as to the effect such an immigration policy would have on their cultures and societies. Western Europe has proven to be painfully inept at integrating immigrant arrivees into their cultural norms and values and as a result there are parallel societies in most countries with an uneasy peace between them

    Furthermore when people in various countries began to question whether uncontrolled immigration from the third world was an unalloyed good, the ruling elites attempted to quash any such questioning as racist and xenophobic. In polite society one wasn't allowed to talk about the creeping epidemic of female genital mutilation, honor killings and political Islam. Academics who studied these issues had their careers destroyed, sporadic political upstarts who organized around a more sane immigration policy were demonized by all sectors of the political class from center right to far left. Even immigrants themselves like Ayan Hirsi Ali, who pointed out cultural and societal problems from the rising population growth of Muslims in Europe, was painted as a racist hater, forced to live under police protection due to threats from Islamic radicals who are allowed to live (often on the dole) in places like Holland and England.

    Murray delves into the phenomenon of white western guilt which especially afflicts such nations as the US , Australia and England. He points out how other countries have their histories and cultures judged by the best case examples, while we in the west judge ourselves by our worst moments (inquisition, Nazis in Germany, etc)

    “In America, as in Australia , such a constant drumbeat of guilt changes a people's natural feelings about their own past. It transforms feelings of patriotism into shame or at the very least into deeply mixed emotions”

    Not all countries do this. In Turkey which ushered in the first genocide of the 20th century, there is no collective guilt about the Armenian massacre. In fact Article 301 of the Turkish constitution makes it a crime to insult the Turkish nation. Thus any critique of their past is forbidden .

    Why is it only western nations that should feel guilty? Should Mongolians in the 21st century be subjected to a constant parade of criticism for the massacres at Aleppo and Baghdad the Genghis Khan perpetuated?

    Murray takes a close look at the trumped up Syrian refugee crisis of 2015 which involved very few war refugees and even fewer Syrians. It did involve millions of uneducated, probably unemployable young men with retrograde views on everything from church/state separation to women's equality. Pointing out that the Gulf States have taken in exactly zero refugees , Murray shows how this flood was encouraged by Western leaders notably Germany's Merkela. While it would have been far better and cheaper to house the true war refugees in the middle east, so they could return when Syria stabilizes, the political elite lacked the will to do this. Even with the societal and establishment pressure to never discuss the downside of this refugee flood, public opinion has increasingly turned againsted the unfettered immigration which had been encouraged. Still political leaders refuse to do much to police their borders or return unauthorized migrants to their homelands.

    Murray looks at an issue I've thought about , the demorilization of Western society, which no longer acts as if the values we are built upon are worth preserving. This explains why societies with still only 10% Muslims are buckling under to the creeping Sharia that is coming their way. Murray offers the suggestion that a religious revival in Europe would help combat this trend but doesn't hold out much hope for one. He basically predicts a continued lack of will to confront the issue and the eventual transfomation of Europe into a place we won't recognize.

    This was a very good book, very readable. Everyone should read and think about it.
    63 people found this helpful
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  • Elan A.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
    Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2025
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    Wonderful read, and highly recommended. Have been following Douglas Murray for quite some time now, and this book will definitely not disappoint.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • David Lindsay
    5.0 out of 5 stars Europe in Trouble
    Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This is an important if troubling book. Douglas Murray is a British political commentator who was educated at Eton and Oxford (as was David Cameron). He analyzes the recent history of European immigration and argues that if immigration continues at its current levels this could lead to the death of European civilization. He argues that Europe, as we know it, will cease to exist within the lifespans of most people alive today. The expectation of most politicians is that the arrivals into Europe would become European. He argues that it is more likely that Europe will increasingly look like the Third World.

    Europe is an attractive destination for migrants because of its peace and prosperity, but Murray believes that immigration is changing Europe. In the 2011 census, only 44.9% of the people living in London identified themselves as white British. In 2015, Germany and Sweden added an extra 2% to their populations in a single year alone, because of immigration. Europe is also attractive because of its welfare state. If you can make it to Europe you are given free health care, free housing, and money to live on.

    Each day boats filled with migrants set out from North Africa. Over this year's Easter weekend alone about 8,000 people were picked up between the coast of North Africa and the south of Italy. Murray has visited the camps that they are taken to in Greece and Italy. He argues that most of the people are economic migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa. They are looking for a better life in the West. NGOs often claim that everyone is an asylum seeker, but he believes that this is nonsense.

    Murray examines the pros and cons of immigration and mostly finds the negatives. He argues that the British people have been misled about the benefits by the political classes. He demolishes many of the arguments used to justify mass immigration; and criticizes the suppression of uncomfortable facts about the immigrants. Many critics of immigration have been accused of racism and even fascism. Many have found their careers destroyed when they raised the issue.

    Immigration has never been properly debated in Britain or Europe. Opinion polls in Britain, Germany, and Sweden show that a majority of ordinary people are opposed to further immigration. However, politicians have been able to ignore public opinion. Murray complains that politicians have consistently underestimated the number of immigrants who would come, and how difficult it would be to integrate them.

    Murray also argues that Europe has lost faith in itself and its values. There is guilt about its past. Particularly, colonialism, the two world wars, totalitarianism, and genocides. Christianity is dying in Europe and this has left a hole. Intellectuals have been reluctant to admit that many of the values we associate with the West derive from Christianity. What’s left is a vague belief in human rights and democracy.

    Murray believes that Europe is now an exhausted force, that won't fight or assert itself. While it seems acceptable for countries like Japan and Saudi Arabia to fight to try to preserve their traditional culture by restricting immigration, many opinion formers in the West don’t seem to believe that their culture is worth preserving. The pursuit of diversity has also led to European countries downgrading the notion of national identity and the beliefs and stories that underpin any Western society. He attacks Tony Blair's government for its naïve belief in multiculturism and pursuit of diversity. Blair’s administration believed that the indigenous population had to adapt rather than the incomers.

    Murray is concerned about immigration from Third World countries. He is particularly worried about Islam and does not believe that its values are compatible with those of liberal Western democracy. Murray complains that many of the people arriving bring with them illiberal views and practices. The assumption seems to be that when you arrive in Europe, immigrants are expected to instantly adopt its Judeo-Christian culture and values. A poll carried out a couple of years ago in Britain found that among British Muslims, precisely 0% believed that homosexuality was a permissible lifestyle choice. A majority wanted it declared illegal. Many immigrants bring with them Medieval rather than liberal ideas.

    Murray shows, that Britons have been lied to about the benefits of immigration. They have told that inward migration brings financial benefits to Europe, but the reverse is true. Immigration between 1995 and 2011 cost Britain at least £114 billion, rising potentially to £159 billion (according to a pro-immigration report from University College, London). Europe does face demographic challenges because young people are not having enough babies. The average family in Germany is having 1.63 children. Polls show that women in Europe would like to have more children but they just can’t afford them. He argues that there should be financial incentives to encourage women to have more babies. The other problem is that immigrants also get older. You can quickly create a Ponzi scheme if you constantly bring in immigrants to fill employment gaps. Murray argues that there is 20% unemployment in Greece and Spain and there is already enough surplus labor within Europe.

    It is often argued that even if we are not better off financially we benefit culturally from diversity, for example, we get to experience new and exciting cuisines. This is an argument that plays better among liberals living in London, than in Britain's rust belt. Unfortunately, the amount of enjoyment to be got from Somali food does not increase year on year the more Somalis there are in the country.

    It has also been argued by some that Britain has always been a “nation of immigrants.” That is clearly untrue. The Norman Conquest in 1066 increased the British population by only about 5%, and that was 1,000 years ago. Taking in persecuted French Protestants in the 17th century added about 50,000 people. About 40,000 Jewish refugees fled to Britain in the 1930s and 1940s. Many, like Madeleine Albright, Jerry Springer, and Ted Koppel, subsequently immigrated to the US. All these earlier groups were easy to assimilate, although the Normans were still hated by the Saxons, centuries later. The number of immigrants today is very much larger and the cultural differences are greater.

    HSBC chief economist Stephen King has argued that migration from Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the greatest threats facing the West in the 21st century. Many of these countries are unstable but their populations are growing rapidly. The population of Nigeria is expected to increase from 180 million to 730 million by 2100. There is already friction between the country’s large Muslim and Christian communities. Many of these people will probably seek refuge in Europe in future decades. It is a similar story throughout Africa, populations are booming. Europe needs a better immigration strategy. Inviting the world to come and live in Europe is not a sustainable long-term option.
    175 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • recluse
    5.0 out of 5 stars 奇妙な死というよりは緩慢なる自殺！
    Reviewed in Japan on July 21, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    ずっと気にはなっていたのですが、似たようなreportageLondonistanは過去にも読んだ記憶があり、読むのは控えていた作品でした。今回一読してみて、とうとうここまで来たかとの思いを新たにさせてくれる作品でした。日本でもおなじみの短期的な利得の強調と疑わしい本末転倒の理由（人口減への対応）そして美名（diversityとmulti-culturalism)のもとで、長期的には社会の根本を壊すというか、大幅に作りかえてしまうことになる諸政策が、なぜ世論の多数の意向を無視してとり続けられているのか？本書は外国人の不法大量流入の現場でのreportageだけではなく、このような現象を引き起こしてしまった深い要因への思索を促すものでもあります。
    タイトルのstrange death が示しているかのように、西欧ではすでに中枢神経である頭脳がやられてしまっているようです。「頭脳」というのには２つの意味があります。それは思想であり、もう一つは社会の頭脳でもある指導者です。この二つが奇妙なシンクロを起こして病んでいるのです。その究極の姿が見受けられるのが、償うことのできない罪の意識を抱いたホロコーストの当事者、ドイツです。
    RACISMというレッテル張りの下で、multi-culturalismの発想とは対極にある相手へのmulti-culturalismの論理の倒錯した適用、警察・司法での奇妙な二重基準の横行、テロ事件報道へのグロテスクな自己検閲と自由な報道への物理的な脅威、そして欧州の歴史の一方的な視角からの大幅な読み直し（これこそ歴史修正主義!）への安易な同調、そしてこれらの現象の上に覆いかぶさる「数」の圧力、これらが組み合わさって、もはや欧州は地理的な概念としての意味は維持しながらも、文化的な概念としての実体は徐々に崩されているのです。demographicsの容赦のない変化の下での無責任な民主主義の横行は究極のところで民主主義を殺してしまうという逆説的な事態（ナチの政権掌握！）が待ち受けているかのようです。
    著者が指摘するのは文化的な基盤としてのキリスト教の存在の希薄化とそれに伴う価値観の崩壊です。賛否はあるにせよ、現在の欧州の基盤とmulticulturalismを含む思考と発想を特徴づけているのはキリスト教なのですが、その文化的な拘束を認識することなく、それにとってかわるものとして祭壇に挙げられているのが「信条 (creed)」としての人間の進歩への信頼（belief in human progress)という幻想です。この「信条」と真っ向から対立する思考体系を持っているのがイスラム教徒の移民たちなのです。リベラルがＬＧＢＴの詳細な定義に熱中しているそのそばでLGBTの存在そのものを否定する（イスラム教の論理 (新潮新書)）多数の予備軍が中に引き入れられているのです。これは悲劇なのかそれとも喜劇なのか？
    街で社会崩壊の現実にリアルに直面する欧州の大多数の世論の意向（移民の制限）にもかかわらず根本的な対策が政治家によってなされることはありません。移民反対の政治勢力はracismという悪罵を投げつけられ、既成事実の積み重ねが進むというわけです。西欧と違い中欧ではこの危機が認識されてはいますが、demographicsの推移はますます欧州という存在の存立基盤を危うくしていくというわけです。著者の以下の結語(2018年4月）はperhapsという言葉のリフレインが醸し出す悲観主義と諦観の色彩が色濃くにじみ出たものです。

    Within the life-spans of many of us it is fair to say that such a country- like most other countries in western Europe-will become unrecognisable even to fairy recent inhabitants. Perhaps it will all be fine. Perhaps people who remember what Sweden was, what France was, what Britain and what the rest of Europe was will just die out. Perhaps then all the problems, not least the problem of identifying the problem, will cease. Perhaps. Or perhaps a whole new world of problems is being born.
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  • lichi
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!
    Reviewed in Mexico on October 24, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    As a lover of European culture i bought the book even though I already had read and seen much on the issue of immigration from the islamic countries. The effects are devastating and Europe will never be the same. sad but true. We must be informed so this does not further spread in America! It is heartwrenching to see the rivers of refugees trying to save their lives and find a corner in our planet where to live in peace, yet at what cost to each nation?
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  • Sameer Reader
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic. Factual. Original perspective on immigration.
    Reviewed in India on October 6, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    If any of the news about violence, coming from Europe, made you curious this book will give you the whole background, from the author’s angle though. For me, I became curious after reading about car-burning in Stockholm a few months ago. I remember thinking that was quite un-European thing to happen in Stockholm. Glad to have found this book & mainly the author.
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  • Arthur Wensleydale
    5.0 out of 5 stars A game-changer.
    Reviewed in Australia on June 27, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    An excellent book, on so many levels and for so many reasons. His main thesis, if I've understood it correctly, is that the countries of western Europe, through a sense of loss of purpose/meaning ("existential tiredness"), stemming from guilt about their colonial and/or war histories, have allowed immigration in such numbers as to overwhelm these states - overwhelm them both now and in the future. This notion of guilt is something he talks about at length in the book.

    The book title should perhaps have referenced western Europe specifically, as the author does point out the different reactions of eastern European countries to the "refugee crisis" (the countries of eastern Europe, when implored to "do their bit" to take in refugees, refused). Hence, he's really referring to the death of western Europe.

    As he says: fifty years from now, China will still look like China and India will still look like India...what will Germany look like?

    The book is gloomy; there's no "champagne room".
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  • Isabelle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and necessary
    Reviewed in France on March 27, 2025
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    The Strange Death of Europe is a must-read, especially for Europeans. Through this account of the Continent’s modern History marked by common patterns within different countries, the reader can confront his or her observations living in Europe with the facts Douglas Murray exposes in his work. These facts, all backed up by references, give a broad perspective of the situation in Europe, how it began and how it can be explained. Having lived in Paris' suburbs for a number of years, I have seen my country change and The Strange Death of Europe confirms my observations and teaches me about events I did not know or knew so little about. Douglas Murray’s writing is also captivating and keeps the reader excited to learn more. What I loved about this book was reading about brave film makers, politicians, journalists and writers, like Oriana Fallaci, who had the courage to stand up against those who wanted to change their country for the worse and warned policymakers of the dangers facing Western Civilisation. This book is perfect for anyone willing to better understand Western Europe’s identity crisis today or simply wishing to back up their observations and experiences with facts and learn more about other countries.
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