Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam and the West

Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam and the West
Christopher Caldwell
Doubleday, 2009, 442 pages, Nonfiction

This book, while pessimistic about the immigration problems in Europe, is helpful to understanding the history of immigration in Europe after World War II and to the present time. The author also describes the problems caused by varying national policies about immigration in the European Union. Due to labor shortages and vast reconstruction needs in Europe at the close of the war, most European nations opened their arms to immigrants and citizens of former “colonies.” Most nations assumed the laborers would either return to their native countries or become assimilated into the culture of the host nation. The reality has been far different. In many European nations, immigrants have retained loyalty to their native culture and religion even in the second and third generations. Europe generally has become more and more secular and liberal since World War II, while the immigrant populations have very often been or become more and more religious and conservative.

Add to these trends the general “intolerance of intolerance” in Europe, also a consequence of World War II, and you have nations where it is almost impossible for leaders to even talk about the difficulties caused by immigration and the failure of immigrants to assimilate without committing political "suicide”. The book is sometimes repetitive but it also sometimes offers brilliant insights. Caldwell doesn’t offer solutions for the future but outlines the great challenges ahead for Europe and Great Britain.