Skip to content
  • Home
  • Shop
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Login
View cart
  • Login
Close
  • Home
  • Shop
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Home The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan - Hardcover
The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan
  • 21st Century,
  • Asian,
  • Biography & Autobiography,
  • Books,
  • Editors & Journalists & Publishers,
  • History,
  • Modern,
  • Political Science,
  • Price Written on Book,
  • World,

The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan - Hardcover

Original price $37.16 - Original price $37.16
Original price
$37.16
$37.16 - $37.16
Current price $37.16
| /
Availability: In Stock
SKU 9780735243415
  • Description
  • Reviews ()

Additional information

Report copyright infringement

by Lyse Doucet (Author)

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2026 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION

The story of a hotel. The story of a nation.

When the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan's first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected to the world.

More 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.

Lyse 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.

It 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.

The 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.

Author Biography

LYSE DOUCET is a Canadian journalist and the BBC's Chief International Correspondent. In the course of a career spanning four decades, she has reported from countries around the world and was based as a correspondent in Jerusalem, Amman, Islamabad, Kabul, and Abidjan. She has played a leading role in the BBC's coverage of major events including the recent Iran-Israel war, the Gaza war, the Arab Spring, and the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. She received an OBE in the Queen's Honours list in 2014, and was admitted to the Order of Canada in 2019. She has received many awards, including most recently the 2024 Zenger Award for Press Freedom from the University of Arizona and the 2019 Trailblazer Award from Georgetown University. She was a recipient of the Colombia School of Journalism Award in 2016, an Emmy in 2014 for her team's reporting from Syria, Peabody and David Bloom Awards for her work from Syria and Afghanistan, and an Edward R. Murrow award for her team's reporting from Tunisia. In 2021, she was nominated for a Peabody for her work as a writer and reporter on the BBC podcast Afghanistan: Documenting A Crucial Year. Doucet has eighteen honorary doctorates from leading British and Canadian Universities. She has a Master's degree in International Relations from the University of Toronto, and a BA Hons. from Queen's University in Kingston. She is also a senior fellow of Massey College of the University of Toronto. Doucet has been reporting on Afghanistan since 1988. She visits the Inter-Continental whenever she is in Kabul.

Number of Pages: 448
Dimensions: 1.5 x 9 x 6.3 IN
Publication Date: November 04, 2025

You may also like

  • !Búscalo! (Look It Up!): A Quick Reference Guide to Spanish Grammar and Usage

    !Búscalo! (Look It Up!): A Quick Reference Guide to Spanish Grammar and Usage - Hardcover

    In stock

    Report copyright infringementby William M. Clarkson (Author)A novel approach--very useful for quick reference.--Mark Goldin Associate Professor of ...

    View full details
    Original price $39.52 - Original price $39.52
    Original price
    $39.52
    $39.52 - $39.52
    Current price $39.52
    | /
    Original price $39.52 - Original price $39.52
    Original price
    $39.52
    $39.52 - $39.52
    Current price $39.52
    | /
  • !Búscalo! (Look It Up!): A Quick Reference Guide to Spanish Grammar and Usage

    !Búscalo! (Look It Up!): A Quick Reference Guide to Spanish Grammar and Usage - Paperback

    In stock

    Report copyright infringementby William M. Clarkson (Author)"A novel approach-very useful for quick reference." --Mark Goldin, Associate Professor...

    View full details
    Original price $24.92 - Original price $24.92
    Original price
    $24.92
    $24.92 - $24.92
    Current price $24.92
    | /
    Original price $24.92 - Original price $24.92
    Original price
    $24.92
    $24.92 - $24.92
    Current price $24.92
    | /
  • "...and the Mille Lacs who have no reservation...": A history of the Chippewa Indians in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota up to 1934

    "...and the Mille Lacs who have no reservation...": A history of the Chippewa Indians in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota up to 1934 - Paperback

    In stock

    Report copyright infringementby Clarence Ralph Fitz (Author)The book chronologically explains the bungling of the federal government as they attemp...

    View full details
    Original price $44.44 - Original price $44.44
    Original price
    $44.44
    $44.44 - $44.44
    Current price $44.44
    | /
    Original price $44.44 - Original price $44.44
    Original price
    $44.44
    $44.44 - $44.44
    Current price $44.44
    | /
  • "8emessourit" 'The River of the Big Canoes': A Large, National, River Ecosystem in Peril

    "8emessourit" 'The River of the Big Canoes': A Large, National, River Ecosystem in Peril - Hardcover

    In stock

    Report copyright infringementby Lawrence Walter Hesse (Lars) (Author)The River of the Big Canoes is a powerful and sobering exploration of the ecol...

    View full details
    Original price $47.41 - Original price $47.41
    Original price
    $47.41
    $47.41 - $47.41
    Current price $47.41
    | /
    Original price $47.41 - Original price $47.41
    Original price
    $47.41
    $47.41 - $47.41
    Current price $47.41
    | /
  • "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide

    "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide - Paperback

    In stock

    Report copyright infringementby Samantha Power (Author)Winner of the Pulitzer Prize!An impassioned critique of America's repeated failure to stop g...

    View full details
    Original price $32.99 - Original price $32.99
    Original price
    $32.99
    $32.99 - $32.99
    Current price $32.99
    | /
    Original price $32.99 - Original price $32.99
    Original price
    $32.99
    $32.99 - $32.99
    Current price $32.99
    | /
Shop collection
Infinity Light

#TurnPagesLightJourneys


Dedicated to enriching lives through accessible, high-quality books that inspire growth and imagination.

Main menu

  • Home
  • Shop
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Our Policies

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Shipping Policy
  • Return & Refund Policy
  • FAQ`s

Follow us

Find us on Facebook Find us on Threads Find us on Telegram Find us on Instagram Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Twitter
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Shipping Policy
  • Return & Refund Policy
  • FAQ`s

Copyright © 2026 INFINITY LIGHT, LLC. All rights reserved.

  • Amazon
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Diners Club
  • Discover
  • Google Pay
  • Mastercard
  • Shop Pay
  • Visa
  • Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
  • Opens in a new window.