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Ian Buruma

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Ian Buruma


Born
in The Hague, Netherlands
December 28, 1951

Website

Genre
Politics, History, Nonfiction


Ian Buruma is a British-Dutch writer and academic, much of whose work focuses on the culture of Asia, particularly that of 20th-century Japan, where he lived and worked for many years.

118 posts
Ian Buruma's Blog

Ian Buruma isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but they do have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from their feed.

Japan���s Iron Lady

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Published on November 05, 2025 02:17
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Combine Editions

Average rating: 3.73 · 10,942 ratings · 1,396 reviews · 88 distinct works • Similar authors
Year Zero: A History of 1945
3.91 avg rating — 2,266 ratings — published 2013 — 47 editions
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Murder in Amsterdam: The De...
3.72 avg rating — 1,753 ratings — published 2006
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Inventing Japan: 1853-1964
3.68 avg rating — 1,070 ratings — published 2003 — 29 editions
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Occidentalism: The West in ...
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3.49 avg rating — 1,034 ratings — published 2004 — 33 editions
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A Tokyo Romance
3.40 avg rating — 887 ratings — published 2018 — 16 editions
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Wages of Guilt: Memories of...
4.06 avg rating — 479 ratings — published 1994 — 31 editions
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Behind the Mask: On Sexual ...
3.90 avg rating — 295 ratings — published 1989 — 27 editions
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The China Lover
3.19 avg rating — 355 ratings — published 2008 — 25 editions
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Their Promised Land: My Gra...
3.56 avg rating — 288 ratings — published 2016 — 17 editions
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Spinoza: Freedom's Messiah
3.93 avg rating — 248 ratings — 11 editions
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More books by Ian Buruma…
Quotes by Ian Buruma  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Anti-Americanism may indeed have grown fiercer than it was during the cold war. It is a common phenomenon that when the angels fail to deliver, the demons become more fearsome.”
― Ian Buruma, A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq
tags: anti-americanism, bigotry, cold-war, leftism, politics, united-states
15 likes
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“Citizenship of a democratic state means living by the laws of the country. A liberal democracy cannot survive when part of the population believes that divine laws trump those made by man.”
― Ian Buruma, Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance
6 likes
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“Islam may soon become the majority religion in countries whose churches have been turned more and more into tourist sites, apartment houses, theatres, and places of entertainment. The French scholar Olivier Roy is right: Islam is now a European religion.”
― Ian Buruma, Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance
4 likes
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Topics Mentioning This Author

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100+ Books in 2025: Leslie's 2011 100+ Books Challenge 92 126 Jan 02, 2012 11:34AM  
Reading with Style: This topic has been closed to new comments. SP 2014 RwS Completed Tasks - Spring 2014 1052 208 May 31, 2014 09:05PM  
The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Completed Tasks (Do Not Delete Posts) 2519 652 Aug 01, 2014 02:12PM  
21st Century Lite...: PEN /Literary Awards 7 125 Jun 15, 2015 05:01AM  
The Book Club: 2015 Book Prizes 23 96 Oct 08, 2015 04:15PM  
Around the World ...: Discussion for Their Promised Land 3 25 Apr 17, 2016 06:24AM  


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