{"product_id":"9780735243415","title":"The Finest Hotel in Kabul","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA NATIONAL BESTSELLER - WINNER OF THE 2026 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION - A\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eEDITORS' CHOICE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe story of a hotel. The story of a nation.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan's first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected to the world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMore than fifty years on, the Inter-Continental is still standing. It has endured Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a grievous civil war, a US invasion and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban. History lives within its scarred windows and walls.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLyse Doucet, the BBC's Chief International Correspondent, has been checking into the Inter-Continental since 1988. And here, she uses its story to craft a richly immersive history of modern Afghanistan.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt is the story of Hazrat, the septuagenarian housekeeper who still holds fast to his Inter-Continental training from the hotel's 1970s glory days--an era of haute cuisine and high fashion, when Afghanistan was a kingdom and Kabul was the 'Paris of Asia'. It is the story of Abida, who became the first female chef to cook in the Inter-Con's famous kitchen after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. And it is the story of Malalai and Sadeq, the twenty-something staff who seized every opportunity offered by two decades of fragile democracy - only to witness the Taliban roaring back in 2021.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe result is a remarkably vivid history of how Afghans have survived a half century of destruction and disruption. It is the story of a hotel but also the story of a people.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Doucet, Lyse","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48354194850046,"sku":"9780735243415","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0556\/1532\/4335\/files\/Finest_Hotel_in_Kabul.png?v=1781281405","url":"https:\/\/wanderingraccoonbooks.com\/products\/9780735243415","provider":"Wandering Raccoon Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}