White King and Red Queen

How the Cold War Was Fought on the Chessboard

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Games, Chess, Board games
Cover of the book White King and Red Queen by Daniel Johnson, HMH Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Daniel Johnson ISBN: 9780547393841
Publisher: HMH Books Publication: November 10, 2008
Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Language: English
Author: Daniel Johnson
ISBN: 9780547393841
Publisher: HMH Books
Publication: November 10, 2008
Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Language: English

Daniel Johnson -- journalist, editor, scholar, and chess enthusiast who once played Garry Kasparov to a draw in a simultaneous exhibition -- is the perfect guide to one of history’s most remarkable periods, when chess matches were front-page news and captured the world’s imagination.

The Cold War played out in many areas: geopolitical alliances, military coalitions, cat-and-mouse espionage, the arms race, proxy wars -- and chess. An essential pastime of Russian intellectuals and revolutionaries, and later adopted by the Communists as a symbol of Soviet power, chess was inextricably linked to the rise and fall of the “evil empire.” This original narrative history recounts in gripping detail the singular part the Immortal Game played in the Cold War. From chess’s role in the Russian Revolution -- Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky were all avid players -- to the 1945 radio match when the Soviets crushed the Americans, prompting Stalin’s telegram “Well done lads!”; to the epic contest between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1972 at the height of détente, when Kissinger told Fischer to “go over there and beat the Russians”; to the collapse of the Soviet Union itself, White King and Red Queen takes us on a fascinating tour of the Cold War’s checkered landscape.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Daniel Johnson -- journalist, editor, scholar, and chess enthusiast who once played Garry Kasparov to a draw in a simultaneous exhibition -- is the perfect guide to one of history’s most remarkable periods, when chess matches were front-page news and captured the world’s imagination.

The Cold War played out in many areas: geopolitical alliances, military coalitions, cat-and-mouse espionage, the arms race, proxy wars -- and chess. An essential pastime of Russian intellectuals and revolutionaries, and later adopted by the Communists as a symbol of Soviet power, chess was inextricably linked to the rise and fall of the “evil empire.” This original narrative history recounts in gripping detail the singular part the Immortal Game played in the Cold War. From chess’s role in the Russian Revolution -- Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky were all avid players -- to the 1945 radio match when the Soviets crushed the Americans, prompting Stalin’s telegram “Well done lads!”; to the epic contest between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1972 at the height of détente, when Kissinger told Fischer to “go over there and beat the Russians”; to the collapse of the Soviet Union itself, White King and Red Queen takes us on a fascinating tour of the Cold War’s checkered landscape.

More books from HMH Books

Cover of the book Where We Stand by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Silencer by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Vivian Apple Needs a Miracle by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book The Testing Trilogy by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book The Old Farmer's Almanac 2013 by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Vegan Under Pressure by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book The Mermaid's Mirror by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book CliffsNotes on Shakespeare's Measure For Measure by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book CliffsNotes on Fielding's Joseph Andrews by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book The Girl in the Locked Room by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book CliffsNotes on Nordhoff and Hall's The Mutiny on the Bounty by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Letters from the Inside by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Spain in Our Hearts by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book The Fuzzy and the Techie by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book The Seven Sisters by Daniel Johnson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy