The World's Great Speeches

by Lewis Copeland (Editor), Lawrence W. Lamm, Stephen J. McKenna

This outstanding compendium of 292 great speeches contains addresses from nearly every historical era and nation, from the formal orations of ancient Greece and the speeches of Julius Caesar, to modern-day addresses by Nelson Mandela, Ronald Regan and Václav Havel.
Among the memorable speeches included here are Pericles' funeral oration, St. Bernard's advocacy of the Second Crusade, William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech, Winston Churchill's "Blood, Sweat and Tears" address, Richard Nixon's speech to the astronauts on the moon, Malcolm X's address on the Black Revolution, and many more. Readers will also find time-honored declamations by St. Francis, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Napoleon, Victor Hugo, Leon Trotzky, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Dylan Thomas, Fulton J. Sheen, Adlai Stevenson, Walter Reuther, and many others−over 240 speakers in all.
For this newly updated edition, Stephen J. McKenna, Assistant Professor of English at The Catholic University of America, has added 14 important speeches delivered between 1974 and 1997. These new selections include Barbara Jordan's Opening Statement to the House Judiciary Committee for the Nixon Impeachment Proceedings (1974); Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Harvard Commencement Address (1978); Ronald Regan's First Inaugural Address (1981): Nelson Mandela's Address to a Rally in Cape Town on His Release from Prison (1990); Václav Havel's Address to a Joint Session of Congress (1990); the Earl of Spencer's Tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales (1997); and more.
Rich with drama of history, the speeches in this volume will serve you time and time again by suggesting provocative themes and historical parallels, and by providing apt quotations, important reference passages, and a wide range of other valuable material.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference, Politics, Communication, Literature, Anthologies

944 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

Reviews

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay so I haven't read all these speeches. But I remember doing a presentation of Red Jacket's speech and thinking that it was a very eloquent attack on whitey. Which I'm all for. Because Manifest Destiny was stupid, and white people needed to be told to stop it (even if they didn't listen). Also, I think I read a few other ones and thought they were interesting. I should probably (re-)read this if I actually want to review it.

[Patrick Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book 20 years ago and was really hoping there would be a new edition out by now. A plethora of historically important speeches on a wide range of topics, and I would like to see what from our own era gets included in such a compendium.

[Roumodip Chatterjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely delighted to have come across this inspiring book. The speeches contain the pain, the excitement of the speakers on point which the readers can even feel while reading. I liked the speeches by Indian personalities especially, maybe it's because of my origin and roots.

[North Landesman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent for any teachers looking to assign short, excellent, speeches for students to recite.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perspective from behind the curtain, although, speeches should not be read but heard.

[Em · Rating 1 out of 5]

Compilation of some of the greatest oratory gems from ancient Greece to WWII. It sucks that most of the speeches are from West Europe and United States. Not a lot from Eastern Europe...or the rest of the world for that matter. So it's not complete, but it definitely is entertaining to flip through. The words as they spoke them; it definitely has a weight to it.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this collection of Speeches and still do, but was disappointed to find recently that at least one was edited heavily. Whole paragraphs were taken out of the Eugene Debs speech from 1919. I am currently reading another book that contained the whole speech and they edited out some really good stuff. Now I wonder how much all the other speeches were edited.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best collection I've ever read and also not verbatim, which is just a cop-out. I listened to Martin Luther King's speech and read along and there were differences. That was not professional; I could have done a better job.

Still, some broad stuff that I am glad to have read.

[subrahmanyam p v b · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked some 30 of 292 speeches.. brief but powerful...

From Patrick Henry's Give me freedom or Give me Death, To MLK's I have a dream, i really loved reading them all.

To revisit again and read others when I can again.. For now marking it read.

[Jason Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great words by some great men, though they may not have known it at the time.

[Stratos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Σπουδαίο βιβλίο. Οποιος γνωρίζει Αγγλικά να το πάρει, είναι πραγματικά μια όαση στην πλημμύρα των βιβλίων

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over 95% of the 293 speeches were of interest.

[Mills College Library]

815 C782w 1973