Raised a Muslim but increasingly outraged by her religions hostility towards women Ayaan Hirsi Ali has now become one of todays most talked-about admired & controversial political figures because of her desire to free women from an oppressive Muslim culture. Her bestselling collection of essays THE CAGED VIRGIN now available in English for the first time brings together some of her most passionate & compelling writing on a wide range of issues concerning Islam. Drawing on her own first-hand experience & cultural background she assesses the role of women in Islam both in practice & in theory; the rights of the individual; fanaticism; & Western policies towards immigrant communities. Provocative & compelling in equal measure THE CAGED VIRGIN is an important addition to the ongoing debate about the clash of civilizations & marks the debut of a writer & activist destined to be one of the key international figures of the early twenty-first century.