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50 Speeches That Made the Modern World: Famous Speeches from Women's Rights to Human Rights
Throughout history, great speeches have produced great change. From inciting violence and asserting control to restoring peace and securing freedom, nothing has the raw emotional power of a speech delivered at the right moment, in the right place, with the right content, and the right delivery. 50 Speeches That Made The Modern World is a celebration of the most influential and thought-provoking speeches that have shaped the world we live in. With comprehensive, chronological coverage of speeches from the 20th and 21st centuries, taken from all corners of the globe, it covers Emmeline Pankhurst's patiently reasoned condemnation of men's failure to improve ordinary women's lives in 1908 through speeches by Vladimir Lenin, Mahatma Gandhi, David Ben-Gurion, Albert Einstein, Fidel Castro, Nikita Khrushchev, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Benazir Bhutto, Osama Bin Laden and Aung San Suu Kyi, right up to the most compelling oratory surrounding the 2016 US Presidential elections. Through the rallying propaganda speeches during World War II to the cautious rhetoric of the Cold War period, through challenging the status quo on issues of race, gender and politics to public addresses to the masses on the issues of AIDS and terrorism, through apologies, complaints, warmongering, scaremongering and passionate pleas, this book delivers the most important speeches of the modern era and why they still remain so significant. Each speech has an introduction explaining its setting, importance and impact as well as marginal notes filling in any background information.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
256 pages, Paperback
Published October 5, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 2, 2024
It was a good collection of speeches, some of them indeed worthy of the claim of ‘making the modern world’ and others just ok speeches of famous people (surely QEII made better speeches than her ‘annus horribilis’?).
The effect of a brilliant orator on an already excellent speech (e.g. Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan) should not be underestimated, it would perhaps have been more inspiring to have listened to them.
Some of the most inspiring and touching speeches were actually not made by politicians - those of Steve Jobs, Malala Yousafzai and Mary Fisher in particular were outstanding, perhaps partly because of their personal nature.
The editorial quality of the book was in my view poor for a reputable publisher like Chambers.
The effect of a brilliant orator on an already excellent speech (e.g. Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan) should not be underestimated, it would perhaps have been more inspiring to have listened to them.
Some of the most inspiring and touching speeches were actually not made by politicians - those of Steve Jobs, Malala Yousafzai and Mary Fisher in particular were outstanding, perhaps partly because of their personal nature.
The editorial quality of the book was in my view poor for a reputable publisher like Chambers.
December 10, 2020
50 Speeches That Made the Modern World: Famous Speeches from Women's Rights to Human Rights is an anthology of fifty speeches collected by Chambers publishing company. It is a collection of inspirational speeches that illicit change from around the world.
For the most part, this collection of short stories gave an overall mediocre impression. 50 Speeches That Made the Modern World: Famous Speeches from Women's Rights to Human Rights is a mediocre collection, albeit rather inspirational collection of speeches given by fifty different orators from around the world, over a time of century, and for a range of subject matter.
Listed in chronological order from Emmeline Pankhurst (1908) to Theresa May (2016), these fifty speeches are collected from royalty, politician, movement leaders, scientists, and other prominent figures on subject matters as propaganda speeches, through challenging the status quo on issues of race, gender and politics to public addresses to the masses on the issues of AIDS and terrorism, through apologies, complaints, warmongering, scaremongering, and passionate pleas – it is a hodgepodge collection of inspirational, albeit mediocre speeches.
Like most anthologies there are weaker contributions and 50 Speeches That Made the Modern World: Famous Speeches from Women's Rights to Human Rights is not an exception. While there are speeches better written over others – they are all rather inspirational. However, this collection is not meant to be binge-read (like I did), but rather taken in small doses as it could get rather dull rather quickly. Furthermore, speeches are meant to be heard as tone and inflection could change the impact of the written world. However, it was rather beneficial that before each speech there was an introduction explaining its setting, importance and impact as well as marginal notes filling in any background information to give context of the speech.
All in all, 50 Speeches That Made the Modern World: Famous Speeches from Women's Rights to Human Rights is a mediocre, albeit inspirational speeches that help to change the course of world history.
For the most part, this collection of short stories gave an overall mediocre impression. 50 Speeches That Made the Modern World: Famous Speeches from Women's Rights to Human Rights is a mediocre collection, albeit rather inspirational collection of speeches given by fifty different orators from around the world, over a time of century, and for a range of subject matter.
Listed in chronological order from Emmeline Pankhurst (1908) to Theresa May (2016), these fifty speeches are collected from royalty, politician, movement leaders, scientists, and other prominent figures on subject matters as propaganda speeches, through challenging the status quo on issues of race, gender and politics to public addresses to the masses on the issues of AIDS and terrorism, through apologies, complaints, warmongering, scaremongering, and passionate pleas – it is a hodgepodge collection of inspirational, albeit mediocre speeches.
Like most anthologies there are weaker contributions and 50 Speeches That Made the Modern World: Famous Speeches from Women's Rights to Human Rights is not an exception. While there are speeches better written over others – they are all rather inspirational. However, this collection is not meant to be binge-read (like I did), but rather taken in small doses as it could get rather dull rather quickly. Furthermore, speeches are meant to be heard as tone and inflection could change the impact of the written world. However, it was rather beneficial that before each speech there was an introduction explaining its setting, importance and impact as well as marginal notes filling in any background information to give context of the speech.
All in all, 50 Speeches That Made the Modern World: Famous Speeches from Women's Rights to Human Rights is a mediocre, albeit inspirational speeches that help to change the course of world history.
December 25, 2025
My feeling is that these speeches fell into one of two categories: those that changed the world and those that reflected the world at that point in time; it's a shame that the title of the book didn't reflect this difference.
What is great about this book is that it includes speakers from all religions, all nationalities and both genders. Even if a speech itself didn't really grab my attention, I learnt about the nuances of what was happening in the world and the struggles that the orators had faced; that, in itself, was enough to make the book worth reading. In addition, there were speeches that really grabbed my attention.
Two, in particular, stood out for me. Firstly, Mary Fisher, AIDS activist speaking in 1992. At that time, having AIDS was almost like having a dirty secret: sufferers were ostracised. Mary Fisher admitted to being HIV positive and as a white, well-to-do, heterosexual woman her voice had impact on the way people thought about the victims. Hers was a brave speech.
The second speech that had an impact on me surprised me because it was by Kruschev in 1956, as the Cold War was beginning to develop. In my childhood, Kruschev was the 'baddie' and somebody to be feared. What I hadn't appreciated at the time was that his predecessor, Stalin, had caused huge problems and this speech specified what needed to be done in the USSR to help remedy the situation. I think that this speech had more impact on me any other, something that I did not expect to happen.
Every reader will have their favourite and least liked speeches and their reasons will vary. For me, this book stimulated my mind and added an extra dimension to history.
What is great about this book is that it includes speakers from all religions, all nationalities and both genders. Even if a speech itself didn't really grab my attention, I learnt about the nuances of what was happening in the world and the struggles that the orators had faced; that, in itself, was enough to make the book worth reading. In addition, there were speeches that really grabbed my attention.
Two, in particular, stood out for me. Firstly, Mary Fisher, AIDS activist speaking in 1992. At that time, having AIDS was almost like having a dirty secret: sufferers were ostracised. Mary Fisher admitted to being HIV positive and as a white, well-to-do, heterosexual woman her voice had impact on the way people thought about the victims. Hers was a brave speech.
The second speech that had an impact on me surprised me because it was by Kruschev in 1956, as the Cold War was beginning to develop. In my childhood, Kruschev was the 'baddie' and somebody to be feared. What I hadn't appreciated at the time was that his predecessor, Stalin, had caused huge problems and this speech specified what needed to be done in the USSR to help remedy the situation. I think that this speech had more impact on me any other, something that I did not expect to happen.
Every reader will have their favourite and least liked speeches and their reasons will vary. For me, this book stimulated my mind and added an extra dimension to history.
December 1, 2021
I don’t understand politics, economics, etc. all that well, but this book was still widely impactful for me. More than anything, it broadened my perspective about the world. Each and every speech shot me through time and plopped me into the audience—the context of that moment. It was shocking to read so much about leaders fighting for basic human rights, independence, and peace.
I loved the format of the book. It would start by telling you who made the speech, give you a brief paragraph about the speaker, give you historical context to the speech, then the speech would begin. The text included footnotes for further context, and even added when people applauded, chanted, etc.
I highly recommend this book so that you can fill in some of the big picture of the world around you. The nature of the book allows you to read it overtime; reading a speech every now and then, hence why it took me 5 months to finish.
I loved the format of the book. It would start by telling you who made the speech, give you a brief paragraph about the speaker, give you historical context to the speech, then the speech would begin. The text included footnotes for further context, and even added when people applauded, chanted, etc.
I highly recommend this book so that you can fill in some of the big picture of the world around you. The nature of the book allows you to read it overtime; reading a speech every now and then, hence why it took me 5 months to finish.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews