{"title":"Lyse Doucet","description":"\u003cp\u003eLyse Doucet offers a compelling exploration of contemporary history through deeply personal narratives and vivid storytelling. Her works often illuminate complex military and geopolitical conflicts, drawing readers into the human stories behind the headlines.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExpect a rich blend of reportage and reflection, where personal experience meets broader historical insight. Doucet’s writing brings empathy and clarity to challenging subjects, making the past resonate with present-day relevance.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-finest-hotel-in-kabul-by-lyse-doucet-9781529151039","title":"The Finest Hotel in Kabul","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe story of a hotel. The story of a nation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\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\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\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\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\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\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\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 lives 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\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\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\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46629164744940,"sku":"9781529151039","price":32.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781529151039.jpg?v=1751968848"},{"product_id":"the-finest-hotel-in-kabul-by-lyse-doucet-9781529151022","title":"The Finest Hotel in Kabul","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA book brimming with deep insight, courage and conscience. Astonishingly beautiful, subtle and simply unforgettable.\u003c\/em\u003e Elif Shafak\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIngenious\u003c\/em\u003e KAMILA SHAMSIE\u003cbr\u003e\n   \u003cem\u003eIncredible\u003c\/em\u003e PETER FRANKOPAN\u003cbr\u003e\n   \u003cem\u003eBeautiful\u003c\/em\u003e RORY STEWART\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLyse 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow, 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrough these intimate portraits of Afghan life, the story of a hotel becomes the story of a people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47733148156140,"sku":"9781529151022","price":70.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781529151022-the-finest-hotel-in-kabul.jpg?v=1781207458"},{"product_id":"the-finest-hotel-in-kabul-by-lyse-doucet-9781804957943","title":"The Finest Hotel in Kabul","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Finest Hotel in Kabul\u003c\/em\u003e is described by Elif Shafak as \"A book brimming with deep insight, courage and conscience. Astonishingly beautiful, subtle and simply unforgettable.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Finest Hotel in Kabul\u003c\/em\u003e is the winner of the Women's Prize Non-Fiction Prize 2026 and has been recognised as Book of the Year by major publications including \u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eObserver\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eEconomist\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1969, the Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul opened its doors: a glistening white box, high on a hill, reflecting Afghans' hopes of a modern, democratic future.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the decades since, its staff have endured two coups, a Soviet occupation, the US invasion, and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban. Remarkably, the Inter-Con has never closed its doors.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThe Finest Hotel in Kabul\u003c\/em\u003e, Lyse Doucet offers a vividly human history of modern Afghanistan through the lives of the people who have passed through its battered halls. It is the story of a hotel, and the story of a people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48126633574636,"sku":"9781804957943","price":30.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781804957943-the-finest-hotel-in-kabul.jpg?v=1785972706"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/lyse-doucet.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}