What do you think?
Rate this book
History's Greatest Speeches
Ideal for classroom use, this anthology also provides a valuable tool for preparing or performing public speeches. Twenty of the world's most influential and stirring public lectures include Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!" oration.
Additional speeches include Pericles' fifth-century BC funeral oration, George Washington's 1784 resignation speech, Martin Luther's 1520 address to the Diet of Worms, and Jonathan Edwards' 1741 sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Other orations include Sojourner Truth's 1851 "Ain't I a Woman?" address, Frederick Douglass's 1852 "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" speech, Elie Wiesel's 1999 lecture on the perils of indifference, plus speeches by Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and other luminaries. Includes three selections from the Common Core State Standards "I Have a Dream," "Gettysburg Address," and "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"
Additional speeches include Pericles' fifth-century BC funeral oration, George Washington's 1784 resignation speech, Martin Luther's 1520 address to the Diet of Worms, and Jonathan Edwards' 1741 sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Other orations include Sojourner Truth's 1851 "Ain't I a Woman?" address, Frederick Douglass's 1852 "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" speech, Elie Wiesel's 1999 lecture on the perils of indifference, plus speeches by Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and other luminaries. Includes three selections from the Common Core State Standards "I Have a Dream," "Gettysburg Address," and "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
44 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 26, 2021
Whilst there were some great speeches in there that I’d been dying to read such as “I Have A Dream”, most of them were extremely outdated and hard to swallow. They were also very America-based, which the title does not imply at all.
September 5, 2018
This book was a phenomenal read and jumped right into my top 5 of all time! I was able to "meet" some amazing people like Fredrick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, Mahatma Gandhi, Susan B. Anthony, Daniel Webster, and Elie Wiesel. My favorite speech by far was the one given by Fredrick Douglas, and I am beginning my search for his biography and more of his speeches. If you can make it through the lengthy speech by Daniel Webster (spoiler alert: it crescendo's) then I believe you will enjoy the book as I did.
November 21, 2017
US specific, solid not great
The book focuses on American and western oratory. Mother Teresa and Winston Churchill being the exceptions. Not a bad place to start, but certainly not an exhaustive survey of the worlds oratory. Very few novel surprises in the list.
The book focuses on American and western oratory. Mother Teresa and Winston Churchill being the exceptions. Not a bad place to start, but certainly not an exhaustive survey of the worlds oratory. Very few novel surprises in the list.
June 26, 2022
Very American centric
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews