Finest Hotel in Kabul

A People’s History of Afghanistan

AvLyse Doucet

Häftad, Engelska, 2026

145 kr

Kommande

Fler format och utgåvor

Inbunden

255 kr

Beskrivning

In 1969, the luxury Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul opened its doors: a glistening white box, high on a hill, that reflected Afghanistan’s hopes of becoming a modern country, connected to the world. Lyse Doucet first checked into the Inter-Continental 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 Inter-Con 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, of Abida, who became the first female chef after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. And of Malalai and Sadeq, the twenty-somethings who seized every opportunity offered by two decades of fragile democracy – only to see the Taliban come roaring back in 2021. Through these intimate portraits of Afghan life, the story of a hotel becomes the story of a people.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2026-09-10
Mått:129 x 198 x 35 mm
Vikt:500 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:352
Förlag:Cornerstone
ISBN:9781804957943

Utforska kategorier

Sanna berättelser inom Biografier
Servicesektorn inom Ekonomi och Ledarskap
Mellanösterns historia inom Historia och arkeologi

Mer om författaren

Lyse Doucet first arrived at the Kabul Inter-Continental Hotel on Christmas Day 1988, the day after her thirtieth birthday, to cover the withdrawal of Soviet troops. But she was immediately taken by the faded grandeur of the hotel and the warmth of its staff. Over the next four decades, Lyse would become one of the world’s best-respected war correspondents, reporting on moments from the Arab Spring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine as Chief International Correspondent for the BBC. Yet, she is always drawn back to her Afghan home, the hotel most people just call the ‘Inter-Con’. Here, by drawing upon years of conversations with its staff and guests, she tells the story that only she can.

Recensioner i media

The Finest Hotel in Kabul tells the story of Afghanistan through the Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul, a sexy splash of glamour in a poor, mostly illiterate country when it opened in 1969. Afghanistan was a kingdom then and in the years since, the hotel and its staff have seen coups, a Soviet invasion, a Marxist dictatorship, civil war, the Taliban, western invasion and occupation, the Taliban again. Doucet, the BBC’s chief international correspondent, does a terrific, novelistic job of telling the story of the people who’ve worked there and what this tumultuous change has meant for them.