{"product_id":"finest-hotel-in-kabul-a-peoples-history-of-afghanistan","title":"Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan","description":"\u003cb\u003eA NATIONAL BESTSELLER \u003cbr\u003e A \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e EDITORS' CHOICE \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe story of a hotel. The story of a nation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan's first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected to the world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\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.","brand":"Lyse Doucet","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47289516097772,"sku":"9780735243415","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9780735243415.jpg?v=1770598549","url":"https:\/\/intl.allstora.com\/products\/finest-hotel-in-kabul-a-peoples-history-of-afghanistan","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}