Said Hyder Akbar has also made two acclaimed radio documentaries of his journey which were broadcast on This American Life in the States

'Hyder Akbar is so engaging, so funny, so different from everyone else who normally reports on this kind of story, that Come Back to Afghanistan is irresistible ... He takes us to a place most of us would normally dread reading about, and by the end we really care very badly about what will happen next in Afghanistan. That's a rare and special thing' Ira Glass, host of This American Life 'An exceedingly, commendably unique eyewitness account of a country in transition, told by a charming young narrator' Publishers Weekly 'Straddling cultures, Akbar presents an intimate portrait of a nation at a crossroads' Conde Nast Traveller 'Raw, honest and unnerving, the book is a grim reminder of Afghanistan's ongoing political struggles' USA Today

Said Hyder Akbar is currently a college student. He is also the co-director and founder of his own non-governmental organisation, Wadan Afghanistan, which has rebuilt schools and constructed pipe systems in rural Kunar province. Susan Burton is a contributing editor of This American Life, and a former editor at Harper's. Her writing appears in the New York Times Magazine.