The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches

by Brian MacArthur (Editor)

From Moses to Nelson Mandela, speeches have changed the way we see the world and the way the world is shaped.

The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches gathers together the world's greatest speeches, bringing together the words of over one hundred men and women. These brilliant and passionate declarations by Socrates, Robespierre, Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth I, Churchill, Washington, Pankhurst, Gandhi and many others provide a vivid glimpse of history in the making while retaining their power to move and inspire today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Reference, Philosophy, American History, Anthologies

503 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 1996

Reviews

[Francisco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penguin have recently re-released both this book and a more recent volume on modern speeches which goes all the way to 2017. This volume though covers everything from Ancient times with Moses and Roman and Greek speeches to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the release of Mandela from prison.

Actually the best parts of the book are at the beginning and end, where there seems to be a bigger variety of sources for speeches. The big problem in the middle part is just how focused on English speaking sources it is. There's a lot of stuff on 18th century British parliamentarians, some on the French Revolution, but the great majority is to do with communications to parliament in the UK or the House/Senate in the US.

I understand that speeches work better in their original language, it's all about rhythm and eloquence which can be lost in translation, but if you are taking this book as an historical survey you can become quite disappointed with it. It focuses almost exclusively in the western and northern hemispheres and as such is lacking quite a bit in representation... oh well.

[Amena · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the words of Abraham Lincoln where he discusses whether the Negro is a man or not: "If he is not a man, why in that case he who is a man may, as a matter of self-government, do just as he pleases with him. But if the Negro IS a man, is it not to that extent a total destruction of self-government to say that he too shall not govern himself? When the white man governs himself, that is self-government; but when he governs himself and also governs ANOTHER man, that is MORE than self-government -- that is despotism. If the Negro is a MAN, why then my ancient faith teaches me that 'all men are created equal'; and that there can be no moral connection with one man's making a slave of another." *

Speeches read for #BlackHistoryMonth -
• Nelson Mandela (of course) • Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" (again, of course!) • Abraham Lincoln regarding the injustice of slavery. *

The book is full of mountains of speeches which speak for themselves that I will be revisiting. 5 🌟 naturally.

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of speeches that give a brief history lesson through sections dedicated to themes such as the US war of independence and civil war, women's rights and UK politics. Mainly monarchs and politicians, and some do go on a bit. A common thread - how much the word of God is invoked by all sides in any argument, to a worrying level.

[Kealan O'ver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to fault really seeing as it contains the words of some of the greatest orators the world has ever known.

[Carlos Jaramillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

en teoria el libro promete mucho. hay mucho conocimiento que se puede adquirir de esta serie de discursos. pero se me hizo demaciado pesado. la gran mitad del libro es demaciado enfocada a inglaterra y solo una mecion a otros discursos que pudieran haber estado en este comperdio. espero que la segunda parte sea mucho mejor.

[Fidelis Eka Satriastanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't really finished the whole speeches but read some that are interesting for me. I looveeee Sojourner Truth and Martin Luther King' s speeches. I felt like I was there and watched them fired up! I discovered that Ten Commandment is a form of a speech (I mean I always treat it as well Ten Commandment). Also, for the fact that Moses, Jesus of Nazareth and Muhammad were excellent orators... Well, maybe they weren't as feisty as Lincoln, Kennedy, or King but they were giving changes through the power of speech.
Speaking of which, I didn't see Soekarno's name in the list. The author put up Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela but not Soekarno who was notoriously known as an orator. Mayhe he'd list him someday in the future speeches.

[Rima · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Moses to Mandela, from Pankhurst to Obama, we’ve had our fair share of powerful oratory. Thanks to @penguinukbooks, I’m adding two stunning volumes of speeches bound in classic Penguin style to my collection. I was seriously impressed how far back the Historic version went to cover a wide period.

[Steve Rangoussis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nearly every speech of significance can be found in this book. A great reference that is self inspiring without the subjective impressions of and editor.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great "quantity" of speeches, but I don't like how they are not presented in their entirety. Will need supplemental text to go with along this. But at least the table of contents gives a lot of great speeches as a starting place. . . very valuable in that aspect.

[William Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Impossible to fault the captivating words of our forefathers.

[Ralph Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s depressing the modern version of this book ends with Trump whereas this one ends with Mandela as if to say look how far we’ve fallen.

[Deepak Namachivayam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need to revisit again and again to revive hope on humanity.