It is hard to describe the stories Noor presents in this book about Afghanistan and Pakistan in the seventies and eighties, and about what it means to really immerse yourself in a place.

“I used to play in a rock band in the sixties in Los Angeles. I ran a kundalini yoga centre outside the city. I became Muslim in Afghanistan in the seventies. I fell in love with a Pathan courtesan and documented my tumultuous four-year relationship with her and her family. I exported Soviet military uniforms and other gear brought out of Afghanistan during the war. I drank tens of thousands of cups of tea with police, mujahideen and malangs. Let me introduce you to the home of my heart.”