Let Pass Or Die – Passport History Book

After the triumph of the printed edition, the second edition is now available as Digital Edition (e-book) with even more content! 440+ pages and 200+ astonishing pictures. Passport History eBook Edition

Fascinating travel documents, exciting stories, photos, and current passport facts await you. Only e-book readers get access to exclusive online content with live links and QR codes in this digital edition, giving you even more vivid knowledge.

Notably, 70% of printed book sales went to the security printing sector, including market leaders and the government. I am glad that esteemed experts and industry leaders have recognized my efforts.

500 Years of Passport History eBook Edition

This book will give you an overview of roughly 500 years of passport history. These pages contain insights on selected, rare examples of travel documents from the past, including extinct countries, fantastic stories, and astonishing passport photos. Identification papers, until the 14th century, were a privilege. Only from the 15th century have passports become somehow obligatory.

For the first time, issued to soldiers, especially mercenaries who had returned from war and for whom such a document served as a letter of dismissal. We discuss historical people, ordinary people, celebrities, heroes, and criminals with their experiences during their journeys in different periods. You will be surprised by the beautiful passport photo of a young Japanese woman in her Kimono during the Japanese Empire and some remarkable passports from territories that no longer exist, like German-Austria, the Ionian Islands, or Manchuria. Passport history eBook Topol

Physical travel documents as we know them today might disappear in the coming 20 years as travel, especially air travel, is significantly growing. Our society aims to optimize traveling into a seamless process while increasing security measures concurrently. Nowadays, some countries issue only electronic visas (which you don’t see on your passport). Biometrics like facial recognition and fingerprints are significantly on the rise. So, you will also learn about modern passports, their technology, and their future.

My book is held by Interpol, the BKA, the U.S. Department of State, Frontex, the German Federal Archive, the German National Library, among others.

Your book looks incredible – and I am excited to know more about your work.
-Rebecca McElroy, filmmaker, AUS-

I am writing to you because I came across your website and your book ‘Let Pass or Die’ when doing initial research in preparation for my graduation project. Your collection and knowledge of passport design history have been a fantastic source of inspiration and helped me immensely during my graduation project.
-Pontus Höglund, Rotterdam, Netherlands-

I just wanted to send a quick note to mention that I’ve been enjoying your website. I was searching for information about European citizenship and somehow tripped into the topic of collecting passports. I’m intrigued by the stories associated with many of them, and I’ve enjoyed hours of research learning about collecting passports and the nuanced differences/peculiarities. Your book has been wildly insightful. I enjoyed it. -Derek Sandheinrich, Hamburg, Germany-

ONLY €39.00 – after payment, you will get a personal download link

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Passport-collector.com, founded in 2010 by passport historian Tom Topol, is a leading resource on passport history. The site features over 1,000 researched articles on the origins, evolution, and cultural significance of passports. It serves collectors, historians, and anyone interested in how travel documents reflect national identity and global events. Passport history, passport collector, collecting passports, passport fees, vintage passport collector, collectible documents, passport collection, diplomatic passport, passport office, celebrity passports, travel document, vintage passports for sale, old passports for sale, Reisepass, passport fees, most expensive passport in the world, passport colors, passport prices around the world, passport cost by country, cost of passports around the world, passport fees by country, Third Reich passport