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The passport is one of the most widespread documents in worldwide use and yet, paradoxically, it has no basis in law: one state cannot demand another to do something give access - simply by issuing a document. Yet, by insisting on the requirement of holding a passport the state has provided itself with a neat self-financing, data collection and surveillance system. This is the story of the passport, from earliest times to the present day. When the Roman Empire was spread across Europe, those wishing to travel could only do so with the authority of the king or emperor. The passport's power to facilitate passage was, then, embodied in it from the beginning. But it is also connected with territorial and population control by the State. Today, the machine readable passport enables swift checks against lists of names, enabling customs control to sift out undesirables, and the question of identity cards (used throughout continental Europe) is again an issue in British politics. Using individual stories of the use of false passports and secret passage, and revealing the mechanism of the passport system, this book provides an accessible history of this most widespread of documents.… (más)
A natural history of the passport. Some readers find it dry, whereas I found it very interesting. Illustrated with useful photographs and interweaving history and anecdote. It's a little dated since it was published before many of the post-9/11 infelicities of cross-border travel were firmly entrenched. ( )
Lloyd follows the history and development of the passport over the years. Interesting read, but the juxtaposition of exciting adventure stories involving passports and the cold facts about the documents was too much to handle. ( )
A surprisingly fascinating book. At 260 pages, a treatise on the history of the passport could have been long, stodgy and dull, but Lloyd rescues his subject with some strong humanisation. There seems to be something of a tendency amongst specialist non-fiction books nowadays to humanise their stories, and I've seen some long stretches to find a character worthy of introducing ideas; however, in The Passport, every one of Lloyd's examples is illustrative and interesting. There are also some wonderfully thought provoking ideas here - for example, should there even be passports anymore? And who do they really serve?
All in all, a charming little book, just like its topic. ( )
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
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Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
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Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
The finely dressed passengers alighted from their carriages and fiacres before the Paris Opera, the line of gas lamps lighting the horses' breath as it hung in the crisp winter air.
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Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
And despite and because of all their qualities and faults, you know...I rather like passports.
The passport is one of the most widespread documents in worldwide use and yet, paradoxically, it has no basis in law: one state cannot demand another to do something give access - simply by issuing a document. Yet, by insisting on the requirement of holding a passport the state has provided itself with a neat self-financing, data collection and surveillance system. This is the story of the passport, from earliest times to the present day. When the Roman Empire was spread across Europe, those wishing to travel could only do so with the authority of the king or emperor. The passport's power to facilitate passage was, then, embodied in it from the beginning. But it is also connected with territorial and population control by the State. Today, the machine readable passport enables swift checks against lists of names, enabling customs control to sift out undesirables, and the question of identity cards (used throughout continental Europe) is again an issue in British politics. Using individual stories of the use of false passports and secret passage, and revealing the mechanism of the passport system, this book provides an accessible history of this most widespread of documents.
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