Che's Travels
Che's Travels

Author: Paulo Drinot

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2010-09-01

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 0822391805

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Ernesto “Che” Guevara twice traveled across Latin America in the early 1950s. Based on his accounts of those trips (published in English as The Motorcycle Diaries and Back on the Road), as well as other historical sources, Che’s Travels follows Guevara, country by country, from his native Argentina through Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela, and then from Argentina through Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico. Each essay is focused on a single country and written by an expert in its history. Taken together, the essays shed new light on Che’s formative years by analyzing the distinctive societies, histories, politics, and cultures he encountered on these two trips, the ways they affected him, and the ways he represented them in his travelogues. In addition to offering new insights into Guevara, the essays provide a fresh perspective on Latin America’s experience of the Cold War and the interplay of nationalism and anti-imperialism in the crucial but relatively understudied 1950s. Assessing Che’s legacies in the countries he visited during the two journeys, the contributors examine how he is remembered or memorialized; how he is invoked for political, cultural, and religious purposes; and how perceptions of him affect ideas about the revolutions and counterrevolutions fought in Latin America from the 1960s through the 1980s. Contributors Malcolm Deas Paulo Drinot Eduardo Elena Judith Ewell Cindy Forster Patience A. Schell Eric Zolov Ann Zulawski

Chasing Che
Chasing Che

Author: Patrick Symmes

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2011-07-13

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 0307801217

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Intrepid journalist Patrick Symmes sets off on his BMW R80 G/S in search of the people and places in Ernesto "Che" Guevara's classic Motorcycle Diaries, seeking out his own adventure as well as the legacy of the icon Che would become, Symmes retraces the future revolutionary's path. And on the way he runs out of gas in an Argentine desert, talks a Peruvian guerrilla out of taking him hostage, wipes out in the Andes, and, in Cuba, drinks himself blind with Che's travel partner, Alberto Granado. Here is the unforgettable story of a wanderer's quest for food, shelter, and wisdom. Here, too, is the portrait of a continent whose dreams of utopia give birth not only to freedom fighters, but also to tyrants whose methods include torture and mass killing. Masterfully detailed, insightful, unforgettable, Chasing Che transfixes us with the glory of the open road, where man and machine traverse the unknown in search of the spirit's keenest desires.

Chessays
Chessays

Author: Howard Burton

Publisher: Open Agenda Publishing

Published: 2022-11-30

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 1771703318

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A collection of thought-provoking essays by physicist-turned-filmmaker Howard Burton about a wide range of chess-related issues which he encountered while being a "tourist" in the chess world during the production of the 4-part documentary series about the fascinating history and sociocultural significance of chess, Through the Mirror of Chess: A Cultural Exploration. Howard has produced a comprehensive investigation into the remarkable impact of chess across a wide range of times and places up to the present day, touching on cultural history, the nature of competitiveness, artificial intelligence, psychology, art, literature, gender issues, education, and much more in an attempt to comprehensively address the question of what makes the game so unique. These essays provide insightful and playful reflections on the (ab)uses of the history of the game to the birth of the modern game as a competitive sport and the way it is run by FIDE. Howard also questions several of the long-held assumptions about its widely acclaimed benefits and highlights the many surprising contemporary applications of chess to artificial intelligence, prison reform, social inequality, and more and makes sharp observations on what chess reveals about current attitudes to gender, technology, sports, entertainment and the nature of play. Praise for Chessays: “…Howard Burton is new to this world, one which naturally mistrusts outsiders. This allows him to approach the arena of chess with a fresh perspective and enables him to debunk in his typically humorous and sardonic style many of the long-held assumptions about the game. He questions the rarely debated opinion that chess is proof of superior intelligence, and wonders whether the skill shown in moving pieces around a board is as easily transferable to other activities as many seem to claim. Is adding chess to the national curriculum really such a good idea? And is the game a conduit to a lifetime of greater achievement, or just a frivolous end in itself?“ – GM Daniel Gormally “A candid, engaging and provocative glimpse into the world of chess by a former physicist turned filmmaker…reading Chessays is very much like having a chatty and delightful dinner guest provide entertaining and sharp philosophic insights. Get taken on a whirlwind journey through chess history, chess politics, gender issues in competitive chess, and thoughts regarding the benefits of playing chess…each essay offers authentic thoughtful viewpoints (substantiated by an abundance of footnotes), including fascinating reflections on the global chess community and the future of chess.” – Wang-Sheng Lee, Associate Professor, Monash University “…the essays are well written and well structured…The substance of the essays is intriguing. I believe that most readers, both chess players and others, will find many points of interest…” – John Knott, co-author of Blindfold Chess

The Chess Artist
The Chess Artist

Author: J. C. Hallman

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2013-09-10

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 1466852232

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In the tradition of The Professor and the Madman, Longitude, and The Orchid Thief, Hallman transforms an obsessive quest for obscure things into a compulsively readable and entertaining weaving of travelogue, journalism, and chess history. In the tiny Russian province of Kalmykia, obsession with chess has reached new heights. Its leader, a charismatic and eccentric millionaire/ex--car salesman named Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, is a former chess prodigy and the most recent president of FIDE, the world's controlling chess body. Despite credible allegations of his involvement in drug running, embezzlement, and murder, the impoverished Kalmykian people have rallied around their leader's obsession---chess is played on Kalmykian prime-time television and is compulsory in Kalmykian schools. In addition, Kalmyk women have been known to alter their traditional costumes of pillbox hats and satin gowns to include chessboard-patterned sashes. The Chess Artist is both an intellectual journey and first-rate travel writing dedicated to the love of chess and all of its related oddities, writer and chess enthusiast J. C. Hallman explores the obsessive hold chess exerts on its followers by examining the history and evolution of the game and the people who dedicate their lives to it. Together with his friend Glenn Umstead, an African-American chessmaster who is arguably as chess obsessed as Ilyumzhinov, Hallman tours New York City's legendary chess district, crashes a Princeton Math Department game party, challenges a convicted murderer to a chess match in prison, and travels to Kalmykia, where they are confronted with members of the Russian intelligence service, beautiful translators who may be spies, seven-year-old chess prodigies, and the sad blight of a land struggling toward capitalism.