Top 3 Sunday Times BestsellerLonglisted for the Womens Prize for NonFictionShortlisted for the Nero Book AwardLonglisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for NonFictionThe Times, Financial Times, Guardian, Observer and Economist Book of the Year 2025A sweeping and immersive history of modern Afghanistan the first book from one of the worlds leading war correspondents.Simply unforgettable ELIF SHAFAKTerrific THE TIMESIncredible PETER FRANKOPANPowerful and charming FINANCIAL TIMESUtterly compelling PHILIPPE SANDSMasterly TELEGRAPHIngenious KAMILA SHAMSIEA mustread SUNDAY TIMESBeautiful RORY STEWARTIn 1969, the luxury Hotel InterContinental Kabul opened its doors a glistening white box, high on a hill, that reflected Afghanistans hopes of becoming a modern country, connected to the world.Lyse Doucet first checked into the InterContinental on Christmas Eve 1988. In the decades since, she has witnessed a Soviet evacuation, a devastating civil war, the US invasion, and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban, all from within its increasingly battered walls. The InterCon has never closed its doors.Now, she weaves together the experiences of the Afghans who have kept the hotel running to craft a richly immersive history of their country. It is the story of Hazrat, the septuagenarian housekeeper who still holds fast to his InterContinental training from the hotels 1970s glory days an era of haute cuisine and high fashion, when Afghanistan was a kingdom and Kabul was the Paris of...

Binding: Hardback;352 pages; Publisher: TBS-Penguin Random House Wholesale; Classification: HBLX; Weight: 840 g; Dimensions: 242 x 165 x 42

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