Description

Discover the surprising global history of how the passport has shaped art thought and human experience to define the modern world

License to Travel exposes the passport as both an instrument of personal freedom and a tool of government surveillance powerful enough to define our very humanity

Patrick Bixby examines the passports of artists and intellectuals ancient messengers and modern migrants to reveal how these seemingly humble documents implicate us in larger narratives about identity mobility citizenship and state authority

This concise cultural history
Takes the reader on a captivating journey from pharaonic Egypt and Handynasty China to the passport controls and crowded refugee camps of today
Connects intimate stories of vulnerability and desire with vivid examples drawn from world cinema literature art philosophy and politics
Highlights the control that travel documents have over our bodies as we move around the globe

With unexpected discoveries at every turn from narrow escapes and new starts tearful departures and hopeful arrivals License to Travel shares some of our most memorable experiences involving the passport