Speeches That Changed the World - Hardcover

Quercus

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 184866057X ISBN 13: 9781848660571

Publisher: Quercus Publishing, 2010

Synopsis

Comprehensively updated with many new speeches including Earl Spencer's lament to 'The extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana', Nikita Khrushchev's secret speech of 1956 signalling the beginning of the end of Stalinist Russia, Patrick Pearse's rousing funeral oration that fanned the flames of the Easter Rising, Kevin Rudd's historic apology to Australia's mistreated Aborigines and Barack Obama's momentous US election night victory speech. Alongside these are the finest war cries of Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King's prophetic 'I have a dream' and 'I've seen the promised land' speeches, the inspiring words of JFK and impassioned pleas from Nelson Mandela - the first at his trial in 1964 and the second on his election as president of South Africa in 1994. In addition are historic speeches from Elizabeth I, Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Emmeline Pankhurst, Mahatma Gandhi, Vladimir Lenin, Neville Chamberlain, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, General George S. Patton, J Robert Oppenheimer, Mao Zedong, Malcolm X, Richard M. Nixon, Pope John Paul II, Vaclav Havel, Elie Wiesel, Mikhail Gorbachev and many other great historical figures. Speeches that Changed the World presents over 50 momentous and thought-provoking speeches from throughout history. Complete with a potted biography of each speaker, and telling the story of why each oration was significant and what happened as a result, this is a gripping history of the world told through its greatest and most impassioned speeches.

About this title

About the Author

Simon Sebag Montefiore read history at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. He is the author of Potemkin: Prince of Princes and the award-winning Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. He lives in London with his wife, the novelist Santa Montefiore, and their two children.

From the Back Cover

'And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.' Martin Luther King.
'We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.' Winston Churchill.
'And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.' John F. Kennedy.
'I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.' Nelson Mandela.
'Where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.' Barack Obama.
Reproduced within this book are the key speeches of Elizabeth I, Oliver Cromwell, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela and many other major historical figures whose words have shaped our world. Each speech is accompanied by a biography of the speaker and the story of why it was significant, and will both inspire the reader and provide a greater understanding of these turning points in history.

From the Inside Flap

From declarations of war to demands for peace, and from cries of freedom to shouts of righteous anger, this stirring anthology is a celebration of more than 50 speeches that have shaped history. Beginning with the prophets of the great religions and concluding with Barack Obama's election victory vow that 'this is our time', Speeches that Changed the World spans eras, nations and many voices - revolutionaries and tyrants, soldiers and statesmen, monarchs and martyrs.
Here are five of the finest wartime rallying calls of Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King's prophetic 'I have a dream' and 'I've seen the promised land' speeches, the inspiring words of JFK and impassioned pleas from Nelson Mandela - the first at his trial in 1964 and the second on his election as president of South Africa in 1994. Alongside these are historic speeches from Elizabeth I, Oliver Cromwell, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Emmeline Pankhurst, Mahatma Gandhi, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, General George S. Patton, Mao Zedong, Malcolm X, Pope John Paul II, Vaclav Havel, Mikhail Gorbachev and many other great men and women who have captivated, emboldened and sometimes terrified those who heard them.
Each speech is accompanied by an introduction that explains its historical background and its influence on the momentous events of the day, as well as those that followed. A biography of each speechmaker reveals how they came to stand at the crossroads of history.
Speeches that Changed the World has already sold over three-quarters of a million copies. Now comprehensively revised, it includes many additional speeches such as Nikita Khrushchev's secret 1956 denunciation of Stalinist Russia, Patrick Pearse's rousing funeral oration that fanned the flames of the Easter Rising, Kevin Rudd's historical apology to Australia's mistreated Aboriginal peoples and Earl Spencer's lament to 'the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana'. Moving and thought-provoking, this new edition will continue to inspire and enlighten readers, offering them a fascinating perspective on historical milestones through the power of the spoken word.

Edition details

• Publisher: Quercus Publishing
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 184866057X
• ISBN 13: 9781848660571
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224