Discursos que inspiraron la historia

by Jacob F. Field

Las palabras son armas poderosas. Pueden servir para inspirar o para exaltar, para proporcionar consuelo o generar confrontación, para conseguir la victoria o forzar la rendición. Y, con frecuencia, la mejor de las retóricas, en boca de los maestros de este arte, consigue exaltar al más insensible de los oyentes. En un espectro temporal que va desde el siglo V a.C. hasta nuestros días, esta recopilación de discursos detalla aquellos momentos cruciales de la historia del mundo en los que las palabras de una persona han tenido un eco trascendental en las masas. Repasando la oratoria de hombres y mujeres, de liberales y radicales, de militares y civiles, cada discurso se sitúa en su contexto histórico y se analiza su repercusión sobre el ánimo, dispuesto o reticente, de las personas a las que fue dirigido. De los emocionados llamamientos de Garibaldi a sus soldados —“¡A las armas, pues, vosotros todos!”— o del presidente estadounidense Ronald Reagan —“Señor Gorbachov, ¡Derribe este muro!”— al afligido llamamiento de Pericles al entonar su oración fúnebre, Discursos que inspiraron la Historia pone de manifiesto cómo, en tiempos de incertidumbre para los pueblos, las simples palabras pueden transformarse en instrumentos de guerra o de paz, y atesoran el potencial de modificar el curso de la evolución de la humanidad.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

224 pages, ebook

First published October 2, 2013

About the author

Jacob F. Field is a historian and writer. He grew up in South London, completed his undergraduate degree in History at the University of Oxford, and then moved to Newcastle University for his PhD. He completed his doctoral thesis on the Great Fire of London in 2008, and has worked as a research associate at the University of Cambridge since then. Jacob has contributed to books including 1001 Historical Sites and 1001 Battles That Changed The Course Of History and published articles in journals including Economic History Review, London Journal and Urban History.

Reviews

[Laura V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me encanta cómo está armado: una breve contextualización, el discurso en sí, y sus consecuencias. Sitúa al lector en tiempo y forma y no lo deja colgado con palabras en el aire, es importante saber de dónde surgieron esas palabras y a dónde llevaron.

Tardé tanto en terminarlo porque la mayoría son discursos que llaman a la guerra, arengues para soldados que han perdido la fe en la lucha y necesitan una razón para seguir luchando y perder su vida en el proceso.

Eso no me inspira mucho, necesito uno que llame a la paz. Pero la historia es la historia y yo no puedo cambiarla. Descubrí cosas interesantes, leer a esas personas es fascinante, y me gusta.

[Sam Zavala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Las palabras son nuestra fuente inagotable de magia, con discursos que te hacen cuestionarte si todo es a favor de la democracia o si en realidad luchas por un día más. Este libro lo recomiendo bastante porque vemos, cómo unas palabras dichas en el momento correcto hacen que te sientas identificado

[Cameron Bower · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favourite speeches in this book are : 1653 dismissal of the Rump Parliament - Oliver Cromwell , 1917 Germany expected to find a Lamb and found a lion- David Lloyd George , and , 1917 War Message to congress - Woodrow Wilson.

[T.R. Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Shall Fight on the Beach's
By Jacob Field

Field's book illustrates the power of speech, to bind men together in times of trouble as in Churchill's “We shall fight on the beaches”, and Emperor Constantine's “ The Final Stand”. As the power of words can also draw support to an idea, or an ideology, as in the case of Reagan's “Tear down this wall” speech, or Lincolns “second inaugural address”.
Even those of opposing views to free democratic society are found as well, as in Hitler”s “Reichstag's speech”, Goebbels “Do you want total War speech”, Ho Chi Minh's “declaration of Independence, and communists Vladamir Lenin's appeal to the Red Army, and Salvador Allende's “Farewell to the nation”. While I do not hold an interest in these radicals and communists, I found the follow up of each speech interesting in how their words effected change, or lack of.
Every speech has a paragraph or two relating to the consequences of these speeches. Starting in the 5th century with Pericles Funeral oration, and ending with Ronald Reagan's Berlin Wall address of 1987.
For those who love history, and the influential men, and women of history, this book, is a must read.

[Patrick S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good idea for a book that could have devolved into a longwinded background by the editor or it could have been an easy cut-and-paste without much thought. Fields chooses from a great array of historic individuals, some well-known and some lesser. He adds a setup opener to each speech that gives the reader some context of what is going on for the speech to take place. What's also nice is that after each speech, Field gives us what happens as a result of the speech - and some outcomes, like history, don't always wind up well.

I decided to add this to our after-dinner reading with the family so that we could add some history onto our theology and reading them out loud just as these speeches would have been heard. While our 8 and 6-year-old girls didn't know all the points and people and places and positions for each speech, they've been subjected to enough history from their parents to understand and appreciate them enough. Those ins and outs from Field were just the right size. This could have been a quick read if you're just reading it for leisure, but maybe take the time to read out loud to yourself to see if you would have been inspired to follow each leader into history to victory - or defeat. Final Grade - A-

[Emma Dargue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reproduction of some of the most famous speeches in history however found that i was speed reading the speeches to get to the conclusions which I found a little bit more interesting. However a good book that people who aren't as familiar with these speeches will find it slightly more interesting.

[Md Robi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone must read this book

[Moazzem Hossain · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all the history enthusiasts

[Lino Matteo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky little book.

Are these the speeches that inspired history or the speeches of victors that have remained in our historical narrative so we assumed they inspired history?

[Harold Dávila Garrido · Rating 4 out of 5]

Las palabras tienen la capacidad de inspirar valor en momentos de terrible desesperación en momentos tan variados de la historia y traer esperanza.

[Leonardo A. González · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buena lectura aunque hubiera preferido que se profundizara en la historia y contexto de cada uno de los discursos.

[Todd Kman · Rating 2 out of 5]

About – Great speeches that impacted, inspired, or were somehow related to conflicts.

Expectation: Love the concept for the book but had few preconceptions about which speeches would be selected or how the speeches would be presented.

Pros:
- The Format: I really enjoyed the way each speech was discussed. There is an introduction that gives the reason and setting for the speech, the speech, and then the aftermath of events that the speech was related to.
- Breadth of history: It reaches back over 2600 years and includes speeches from Greek, and Roman wars. It has several speeches from the first world war, and second world war and even as recent as the cold war in 1987.

Cons:
- The speeches written in this manner come across flat and lacking the inspiration and fire that I imagine they must have inspired at the time of their deliverance.
- Missing speeches. For a book with a limited number of pages and for any one person with a limited number of years it will be almost impossible to make this list inclusive to satisfy most people. To make this more manageable the author limits the potential speeches to those related to Conflicts. However it feels like other notable speeches have been left out even from this limited field of consideration.

Suggestion:
It became quite enjoyable when I started reading the speeches to my wife and seeing if she could guess the context and person. Nice little game for the right setting.

Overall Impression:
This is a good appetizer to introduce a person to a few significant historical events but it left me wanting something more: something with more variety, more flavor and more filling. As a game it was fun.

[Rachel Pieters · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. 4-5 page snippets surrounding many famous 'call to arms' or 'call for unification' speeches that impacted countries around the world from some of the most fearless and/or important leaders over the span of hundreds of years.
I like the way the writer organized a brief overview of the places and events leading up to the speech, the key points and phrases of the speech, and the aftermath of its effects. I learned a lot from this little book, and I think it'd be a great reference tool.

[Karl El-Koura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fly-through of some of the most significant war-related speeches in history. I liked the diversity of selections, and thought the context-setting and consequences-explaining texts that book-end each speech well-written and very interesting. My one complaint is that the excerpts of the speeches were all too short and fragmented - I would've been happier with a longer book that allowed more room for the speeches, maybe even in their full form.

Still, a very interesting (and very quick read).

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a useful little book to use in a history class, but I'd hardly describe it as either deep or meaningful analysis. A general overview that whizzes by, and only offers an excerpt of text for each speech, bookended by perfunctory before & after sections. Disposable, quick stop history...nothing more.

[Gabriela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great topic idea, bad implementation... The analysis is very superficial or simplistic. Didn't help that I read a Spanish translation with careless mistakes...still, even with those major issues, it is interesting to read a book that starts with Pericles speech in Athens and closes with Reagan in Berlin...

[Carlos Juan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bastante didáctico al ponerte el contexto histórico pre-discursivo y post-discursivo con todas las consecuencias que produjo. Por momentos se me hizo pesado así que no lo calificaré con una buena puntuación.

VALORACIÓN: 2.7

[Naiara]

Solo leído el discurso de Elizabeth I.