Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul

WINNER of the 2021 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards, Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year in association with the Authors' Club.


Winner of the Tata Literature Live First Book Award for Non-Fiction 2020

'A fabulous piece of writing... I recommend it unreservedly' William Dalrymple

'A brilliant book' Christina Lamb

One of the first things I was told when I arrived in Kabul was never to walk...

When journalist Taran Khan arrives in Kabul, she uncovers a place that defies her expectations. Her wanderings with other Kabulis reveal a fragile city in a state of flux: stricken by near-constant war, but flickering with the promise of peace; governed by age-old codes but experimenting with new modes of living.

Her walks take her to the unvisited tombs of the dead, and to the land of the living - like the booksellers, archaeologists, film-makers and entrepreneurs who are remaking this 3,000-year-old city. And as NATO troops begin to withdraw from the country, Khan watches the cycle of transformation begin again.

'A wonderful journey' Atiq Rahimi

'Khan illuminates [Kabul's] life-affirming humanity' TLS