License to Travel: A Cultural History of the Passport

"Departing for a new life far away; fleeing from the dangers, the restrictions, or just the mundanity of familiar surroundings; enduring unwanted scrutiny in the backrooms of officialdom: some of the most dramatic scenes of a life story involve a passport. By examining the travel documents of artists, intellectuals, ancient messengers, and modern migrants, License to Travel tells how these seemingly humble documents also implicate us--our emotions and imaginings--in some of the most sweeping transformations of human history: the emergence of the nation-state, of international relations, of government surveillance, of refugee crises, and of our global interconnectedness"
This surprising global history of an indispensable document reveals how the passport has shaped art, thought, and human experience while helping to define the modern world. Narrow escapes and new starts, tearful departures and hopeful arrivals, unwanted scrutiny in the backrooms of officialdom: some of our most memorable experiences involve a passport. In License to Travel, 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 Han-dynasty China to the passport controls and crowded refugee camps of today. Along the way, the book connects intimate stories of vulnerability and desire with vivid examples drawn from world cinema, literature, art, philosophy, and politics, highlighting the control that travel documents have over our bodies as we move around the globe. With unexpected discoveries at every turn, 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.