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 Give My Regrets to Broadway by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book CliffsNotes on Hemingway's Short Stories by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book A Mustache Baby Christmas by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Sing Down the Moon by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book The Case of the Phantom Cat by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Orbiting Jupiter by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book The Water's Edge by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book S.O.S. Titanic by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Days of Wonder by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Watchfires by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Stick and Stone by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Ramshackle Ode by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book Crazy Beautiful by Daniel Johnson
Cover of the book The French Slow Cooker 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