Speeches that changed the world

Bought this as a gift for my grandson, who is not much of a reader. He picked it up and started leafing through it and then couldn't put it down for a long while. So it accomplished what I had hoped, engaging a teenager's curiosity.

I have found this book to be very useful as it has packed hundreds of huge ideas into this collection of passionate speeches.

Enjoying the book opening up my mind

Balanced compilation of our world leaders. Will serve as a great introduction to many amazing people

Fast shipping and quality product!

They have abbreviated speeches a bit disappointed.

great book

NUCLEAR POWER OF WORDS My readings and writings generally complement each other, especially when reading is not limited to traditional books and print materials. Wayside observations (means reading with a third eye!) on life around stimulate the mind no less. After all, books are relatively new to us, humans! For the last 4-5 days, I have been reading off-and-on a book, Speeches That changed the World. Obviously, it is not authored in a common parlance. However, Simon Sebag Montefiore, a British journalist and non-academic historian, like me, has compiled the salient portions of epochal speeches in a chronological order. Also, he has added mathematically compact bio on each great life and an introduction to the speech in a nice contextual manner. It is a smart way of putting a book together. First printed in 2005, revised in 2010, it is hardbound with fine thick glossy paper in 10”x8” size - nearly a million copies have been sold! A total of 48 great leaders and over 50 of their speeches are chosen. As an author of eight books now, I can’t believe what a family name, social connections and renowned publishers can do in business ventures. As a long-time toastmaster and having an historic bent of mind, I have read through most of the speeches sometimes to my dismay, delight to shock or surprise at a wide spectrum of speeches. Now at the age of 75, while reading half of the speeches, I felt being a strange part of them. The collection opens with the speeches (sermons) of Jesus of Nazareth and The Prophet Mohammed and ends with the Nov 2008 victory speech, Yes, We Can/Americal is a Place where all Things are possible of President Obama. I was surprised at the exclusion of Cicero, a Roman general, statesman, great orator and intellectual, an icon of Roman Civilization. Also, there is an element of political correctness when one notices one of the infinitely many images of Christ in the book, but none whatsoever of The Prophet. ‘The’ in front of ‘Prophet’ tells a it too. A speech is not to be read for the fullest impact. Unless one can visualize speaker’s vocal variety, eye contacts, body language, histrionics, humor and passion, a reader, not aware of the art and craft of these historic speeches, would miss a lot. Making words come to life is the whole purpose of a speech. Speeches are labeled great only after they are delivered and the forces (good or bad) they unleash amongst the listeners. An undelivered speech remains a flat bunch of words.Yes, all great speeches are penned down, chiseled by words, phrases and nuances, and rehearsed for pauses and applauses. A great speech does not have to live up to any moral and ethical code - far from it - like the historic rebel-rouser speeches of Hitler and lies and fabrication in those of Napoleon and Nixon. Furthermore, a great orator can transform an ordinary message into an extraordinary oration. Inversely, a poor speaker can butcher a well-written speech. One of the three great speeches given by Indian leaders is Mahatma Gandhi’s 1930 speech that he addressed on the eve of his starting the Salt Satyagraha. He did not have to use any theatrical gestures as his moral and spiritual stock had already risen so high that even ordinary words coming out of his mouth were taken as sermons by the masses. He changed the entire course of history. Amazingly, he nurtured this nuclear power of spoken words not by any craft of speech making, but by harnessing the power of silence - for which he observed ‘silence fast’ every Monday. For the first time I learnt that in Gandhi’s parting words to the volunteers before the Dandi/Jalalpur March, he made sure that all the satyagrahis were from Gujarat. He took three weeks to cover a distance of over 100 miles - from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi - at the age of 60. His vision was that if weakling and coward Gujaratis can be awakened and braved into taking blows of the British police, then it would be easier to awaken the rest of India. He was right and in fact prophetic in many cases. The choice of Indira Gandhi’s 1974 speech is not good, but that of Jawaharlal Nehru’s 1947 speech, it is all time great. Dr Martin Luther King (name changed by his father from Michael!) is one of the few leaders whose two speeches are included- “I have a Dream” (1963) and “I have seen the Promised Land” (1968), assassinated the very next day! As a pastor, son of a pastor, biblical scholar and super sensitive to the sufferings of his people, I could feel the enormous power in his words when he delivered them in his booming resonating voice - words coming down like waters in a huge fall. With his oratorical skills, he awakened his people - not aroused them to become violent in any thought or actions - a lesson he took from Gandhi's playbook on Satyagraha. At the end of the day, such a stimulant is bound to linger on! May 27, 2015

Les discours sont bien choisis. C'est de plus un très beau livre, bien illustré qui retrace les moments importants de l'histoire au travers de discours, certains connus et d'autres moins.

I'm very pleased with my purchase. The book is in perfect condition and arrived on time. Thank you.

A very user-friendly book with just enough historical information on each speech to be helpful without being too heavy-going. The pictures are well-chosen and the DVD a useful added bonus. Whether you are interested in history, charismatic and interesting people, or the art of speech-making, this is a great book to dip into and is a must for any student studying English Language at A level or English / media studies teachers.

The seller of this book deserves a 5 star rating. While the book arrived late due to postal service, the seller took great care to ensure that provide customer service to a high level. After sending the seller a query he not only credited the whole price - but also sent a very nice message. The book arrived yesterday - in excellent condition and I remain ever thankful that I can now give it to my father for Christmas. Thanks!

Bought as a "thank you" gift for a friend who has been helping me out with Bible studies. He seemed to genuinely be happy with it. I had looked it over when it arrives and most of the speeches are excellent choices ..... Although I cannot see why Lady Diana's trumped up piece of self marketing was included - hardly an earth shattering statement. Bounding is lovely. Paper is great quality.