Shadow City

Brought to you by Penguin.

Winner of the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award 2021

Winner of the Tata Literature Live First Book Award for Non-Fiction 2020

One of the first things I was told when I arrived in Kabul was never to walk...

When journalist Taran Khan arrives in Kabul, she uncovers a place that defies her expectations. Her wanderings with other Kabulis reveal a fragile city in a state of flux: stricken by near-constant war, but flickering with the promise of peace; governed by age-old codes but experimenting with new modes of living.

Her walks take her to the unvisited tombs of the dead, and to the land of the living - like the booksellers, archaeologists, film-makers and entrepreneurs who are remaking this 3,000-year-old city. And as NATO troops begin to withdraw from the country, Khan watches the cycle of transformation begin again.

''A fabulous piece of writing . . . I recommend it unreservedly'' WILLIAM DALRYMPLE

''A brilliant book'' CHRISTINA LAMB, author of Farewell Kabul

''Powerfully evocative'' Kapka Kassabova

''A wonderful journey'' Atiq Rahimi

''Khan illuminates Kabul''s life-affirming humanity'' TLS

© Taran Khan 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2021