The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How a Lone American Star Defeated the Soviet Chess Machine, David Edmonds

Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How a Lone American Star Defeated the Soviet Chess Machine

David Edmonds

By the authors of the national bestseller Wittgenstein's Poker, a riveting account of the legendary 1972 chess match between Boris Spassky, the world champion from the Soviet Union, and the American challenger Bobby Fischer

In the summer of 1972, with a presidential crisis stirring in the United States and the cold war at a pivotal point, the Soviet world chess champion Boris Spassky and his American challenger Bobby Fischer met in Reykjavik, Iceland for a chess match that held the world spellbound for two months with reports of psychological warfare, political intrigue, and cliffhangers. Thirty years later, David Edmonds and John Eidinow have set out to reexamine the story we recollect as the quintessential cold war clash between a lone American star and the Soviet chess machine. A mesmerizing narrative of hubris and despair, Bobby Fischer Goes to War is a biting deconstruction of the Bobby Fischer myth, a nuanced study on the art of brinkmanship, and a revelatory cold war tragicomedy.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Ecco Press
  • Publish Date: Mar 1st, 2005
  • Pages: 384
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.02in - 5.30in - 0.95in - 0.71lb
  • EAN: 9780060510251
  • Categories: ChessUnited States - 20th CenturyWorld - General

More books to explore

Book Cover for: Who's Who In The JFK Assassination: An A to Z Encyclopedia, Michael Benson
Book Cover for: City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America, Donald L. Miller
Book Cover for: Bridge to the Sun: The Secret Role of the Japanese Americans Who Fought in the Pacific in World War II, Bruce Henderson
Book Cover for: The Nazi Spy Ring in America: Hitler's Agents, the Fbi, and the Case That Stirred the Nation, Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones
Book Cover for: December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World - The Perfect Father's Day Gifts for Dad, Craig Shirley
Book Cover for: The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941, Robert Kagan
Book Cover for: Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West, Calder Walton
Book Cover for: Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth, Iain MacGregor
Book Cover for: Saving Stalin: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, and the Cost of Allied Victory in Europe, John Kelly
Book Cover for: The House at Otowi Bridge: The Story of Edith Warner and Los Alamos, Peggy Pond Church
Book Cover for: October 1964, David Halberstam
Book Cover for: No Surrender: A Father, a Son, and an Extraordinary Act of Heroism That Continues to Live on Today, Christopher Edmonds
Book Cover for: One Night of Madness, Stokes McMillan
Book Cover for: Fascism in America, Gavriel D. Rosenfeld
Book Cover for: Fascism in America, Gavriel D. Rosenfeld

About the Author

Edmonds, David: -

David Edmonds is an award-winning journalists with the BBC. He's the bestselling authors of Bobby Fischer Goes to War and Wittgenstein's Poker.

Eidinow, John: -

John Eidinow is an award-winning journalist with the BBC. He's the bestselling authors of Bobby Fischer Goes to War and Wittgenstein's Poker.

More books by David Edmonds

Book Cover for: Parfit: A Philosopher and His Mission to Save Morality, David Edmonds
Book Cover for: Would You Kill the Fat Man?: The Trolley Problem and What Your Answer Tells Us about Right and Wrong, David Edmonds
Book Cover for: Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers, David Edmonds
Book Cover for: Rousseau's Dog: Two Great Thinkers at War in the Age of Enlightenment, David Edmonds
Book Cover for: The Murder of Professor Schlick: The Rise and Fall of the Vienna Circle, David Edmonds
Book Cover for: Hume's Morality: Feeling and Fabrication, Cohon
Book Cover for: Understanding Humans, David Edmonds
Book Cover for: Death in a Shallow Pond: A Philosopher, a Drowning Child, and Strangers in Need, David Edmonds
Book Cover for: Philosophy Bites Back, David Edmonds
Book Cover for: Philosophy Bites, David Edmonds
Book Cover for: Caste Wars: A Philosophy of Discrimination, David Edmonds

Praise for this book

"Readers will savor a marvelous portrait of East against West, with perceived societal superiority as the real prize." -- Kirkus Reviews

"[An] intriguing look at the world of competitive chess, circa 1972.... Good reading, especially for chess buffs." -- Booklist

"[A] praiseworthy, terrific book... marvelous." -- Chess Life

"Bobby Fischer Goes to War tells the story in fine, brisk style...conveying the richness of the world beyond the chessboard." -- Time magazine

"[Edmonds and Eidinow] show themselves once again to be grandmasters of nonfiction narrative." -- Christian Science Monitor

"The book will be one of the major sources of history for new generations of chess players." -- Boston Globe

"David Edmonds and John Eidinow have penned a delightful book about the politics of that legendary match." -- Washington Times

A superbly researched reminder of a 20th century culture clash." -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"A fascinating story well told." -- Nashville Tennessean

"Engagingly written... a real page-turner!" -- Library Journal

"Enthralling.... Edmonds and Eidinow are ideal guides through the history and psychology of chess." -- San Francisco Chronicle

"This is the definitive history of Fischer vs. Spassky." -- Washington Post Book World

"Note to Hollywood: It's Miracle meets A Beautiful Mind. Get on it." -- Entertainment Weekly

"The finest addendum ever to the 1972 chess world championship.'" -- Los Angeles Times

"Superbly researched.... Bobby Fischer Goes to War fills an important gab in the literature on this showdown." -- Florida Sun-Sentinel