Great Women's Speeches: Speeches by Great Women to Empower and Inspire

by Anna Russell, Camila Pinheiro (Illustrator)

Discover the inspiring voices that have changed our world, and started a new conversation.  
 
The first dedicated collection of seminal speeches by women from around the world, Great Women's Speeches is about women at the forefront of change—within politics, science, human rights, and media; discussing everything from free love, anti-war, scientific discoveries, race, gender, and women's rights.

From Emmeline Pankhurst's "Freedom or Death" speech and Marie Curie's trailblazing Nobel lecture, to Michelle Obama speaking on parenthood in politics and Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza's stirring ode to black women, the words collected here are empowering, engaging, and inspiring. 

New Yorker writer Anna Russell introduces each speech with a concise bio of the remarkable woman who delivered it. Paired with powerful illustrations from Camila Pinheiro, the unique personality of each woman is brought to vivid life. A pink ribbon keeps your place in the book.

This anthology of outspoken women throughout history is essential reading for anyone who believes that change is not only possible, it is necessary. 

The women: Elizabeth I; Fanny Wright; Maria Stewart; Angelina Grimké; Sojourner Truth; Victoria Woodhull; Sarah Winnemucca; Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Mary Church Terrell; Ida B. Wells; Countess Markievicz; Marie Curie; Emmeline Pankhurst; Nellie McClung; Jutta Bojsen-Møller; Emma Goldman; Nancy Astor; Margaret Sanger; Virginia Woolf; Huda Sha'arawi; Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti; Eva Perón; Helen Keller; Eleanor Roosevelt; Shirley Chisholm; Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Sylvia Rivera; Simone Veil; Indira Gandhi; Margaret Thatcher; Ursula K. Le Guin; Barbara McClintock; Corazon C. Aquino; Naomi Wolf; Severn Cullis-Suzuki; Wilma Mankiller; Toni Morrison; Hillary Clinton; Wangari Maathai; J.K. Rowling; Angela Merkel; Sheryl Sandberg; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; Asmaa Mahfouz; Manal al-Sharif; Julia Gillard; Malala Yousafzai; Emma Watson; Jane Goodall; Michelle Obama; Gloria Steinem; Beatrice Fihn; Alicia Garza; Maya Lin.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, History

176 pages, Hardcover

First published March 2, 2021

Reviews

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love non-fiction that makes you feel empowered and inspired - this beautiful book and collection of women's speeches does exactly that. Anna Russell takes you through a history of Women's Speeches from around the globe including short bio's about each Womxn which is incredibly useful.

I found each page was filled with inspiration, insightful information and illustrations to admire. Anna Russell has included a multitude of speeches from remarkable Women including Queen Elizabeth I, Emmeline Pankhurst, Emma Watson, Malala Yousafzai and Michelle Obama. This is the type of book you want to share with your friends, your sisters, your daughters and to just have on show for everyone to read and consume.

I loved the diversity of the book, the learnings from each speech but ultimately the way that every orator enforces the power of equality for all.

[Ava Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible.

The perfect pick-me-up for when you need some feminist angst or inspiration.

The amount of speeches I had not heard of prior to reading this book is insane, only highlighting the clear and ongoing disparity of values in society no matter how much we protest, or eat cupcakes on IWD, a gender bias is so prevalent in our society. Performative activism doesn't cut through the 21.3% gender pay gap (Australia, 2023).

Since reading this book, I think about Michelle Obama's speech everyday. I think about all the females who tried to have their voices heard but have been silenced by the patriarchy. I think of my 9 year old self who aimed to achieve gender equality through the annual public speaking competitions (not much has changed to be completely honest), and all the incoming generations moulded around breaking bias and challenging societal norms. This book is a powerful weapon and should be handled with care!!

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely and educational book with wonderful illustrations. Every woman’s biography is shortly presented to provide some context, and the excerpt from the speech follows.
Definitely a book that provides guidance into strong female figures, but one page is obviously too little to show the whole corpus of work and the discourse in which the women in question worked and lived.
I quite liked that the short profiles didn’t only highlight the positive and good things some women did in course of the history, but also what they came under criticism for years later (e.g. racism). This made the book for me more credible and less idealistic.

I am looking forward to reading the next book by the author to discover even more speeches by amazing women.

If I could change anything, it would be less focus on the US history and even more global voices.

[Radwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

English Review Below.

كما هو واضح من العنوان، هذا الكتاب هو مجموعة خطابات لنساء بارزات من التاريخ، أغلبهن من الحركات النسوية أو مناهضات العبودية، وبعضهن من مجالات مختلفة في الحياة. المشكلة الأولى هي أنني توقعت أن يتضمن الكتاب الخطابات الكاملة، لكن كل امرأة لها رسمة ونبذة صغيرة عنها ومقتطف من الخطاب. ولا بأس بذلك، لأنني أظن أنه يمكن للمرء البحث على الإنترنت عن الخطاب الذي يعجبه ليقرأه كاملا، لكن كنت أود لو أن الخطاب بأكمله كان مع كل شخصية. المشكلة الثانية هي عدم التنوع العرقي في الكتاب، أغلب النساء المذكورات هنا هن من أمريكا أو أوروبا، وكنت لأتفهم هذا منذ سنين، لصعوبة الوصول إلى خطابات من دول أخرى، لكن بكل المصادر المتاحة الآن، أعتقد أنه كان بإمكان المؤلفة إضافة المزيد من الخطابات لنساء من دول عربية أو آسيوية أو لاتينية.
لكن ما زلت أظن أنه كتاب نسوية جيد، ونساء كثيرات لم أعرف عنهن شيئا قبل قراءة الكتاب. فقد يكون مرجعا تمهيديا بسيطا لبعض الشخصيات النسوية.

Like the title implies, this book is a compilation of speeches from prominent women, most of them are suffrage movement women and abolitionists, while there are others from different fields of life. The problem is that I expected the full speeches to be here, but actually each woman gets an illustration, a small bio and an extract from her speech, which is fine, since you can actually google her and search for the full speeches, but I would've appreciated it if the full speeches were included. Also, I had an issue with the lack of international diversity in this, as most of them were from the US or Europe, which might've been understandable years ago, but I think the resources now would've made it easier to include more speeches from Arab or Asian or Latina women.

Otherwise, I do think it's a good read for feminists, as actually a lot of the women in this book I didn't know anything about, and it could be a good basic reference book for examples of good speeches.

I thank Netgalley and White Lion publishing for the digital ARC.

[Hannah Colechin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

“I tell my story, not because it is unique, but because it is not. It is the story of many girls.”

Great Women’s Speeches is an essential read for pioneering women everywhere. With illustrations from Camila Pinheiro, this anthology is dedicated to anyone who dares to ask for more.

This book stands out for its diversity. It covers so many women from so many walks of life. Not only are the speeches about women’s rights, they are about climate change, nuclear weapons, voting, slavery, the lot! Was not expecting so much to be covered in such a short book, I was impressed.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has the most beautiful illustrations and the most powerful, encouraging, humbling speeches. I absolutely love this collection and will treasure it forever.

[Sim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The selection of works is absolutely wonderful, with there being illustrations, mini biographies with context, and the speeches themselves. Truly inspiring.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was full of incredible speeches made by incredible women (primarily in the last 200 years). I was unfamiliar with most of the speeches, and many of these incredible women. I appreciated that there was a brief bio before an excerpt from a speech they gave, and I loved the illustrations of all the women.

[bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

what an inspiring, intellectual and troubling collection of speeches i am simultaneously in awe and enraged

[Aniqah · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a woman, it is important to have females to look to: for inspiration; in times of uncertainty; or simply just to learn from. This book does all of that and more.

Beautifully illustrated, and concentrating on one female at a time - from Queen Elizabeth I to Emma Watson - covered in here are women from all walks of life who have achieved wonderful things.

A perfect gift for any woman in your life.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Discover the inspiring voices that have changed our world, and started a new conversation.

The first dedicated collection of seminal speeches by women from around the world, Great Women's Speeches is about women at the forefront of change—within politics, science, human rights, and media; discussing everything from free love, anti-war, scientific discoveries, race, gender, and women's rights.

From Emmeline Pankhurst's "Freedom or Death" speech and Marie Curie's trailblazing Nobel lecture, to Michelle Obama speaking on parenthood in politics and Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza's stirring ode to black women, the words collected here are empowering, engaging, and inspiring.

New Yorker writer Anna Russell introduces each speech with a concise bio of the remarkable woman who delivered it. Paired with powerful illustrations from Camila Pinheiro, the unique personality of each woman is brought to vivid life. A pink ribbon keeps your place in the book.

This anthology of outspoken women throughout history is essential reading for anyone who believes that change is not only possible, it is necessary. '

Firstly, let me say that this book is aesthetically beautiful! The cover is so pretty. Inside it is filled with bright colourful pages and illustrations of the women. I love the layout. It gives some background information about the women and then an explaination of what the speech is about, where it took place, etc. This was by far my favourite aspect of the book.

I enjoyed the speeches and found some great quotes in there. I definitely made me more curious about certain women and I ended up Googling them afterward to find out more information. It is not an extrememly detailed book but if you want a quick guide and reference it is great. There will probably be a lot of women you haven't heard of before and then you can look for more information elsewhere on them. This is always good because it is important to educate yourself on such things in my opinion.

I would highly recommend this as a gift for the woman in your life. I think in particular it is an important book for young women and teenagers to educate them on the importance of womanhood and what we have had to deal with and how to handle it.

(Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.)

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book and being able to get back in touch with all the incredible and fierce women within our history. It was really empowering to read these speeches and how they moved (and in some cases, still do continue to move) people towards action. This is such an empowering and important book. As a woman, I honesty struggle to remember many great women and their speeches throughout our history. I found it was really impactful and captivating to read about these speeches and how some have lead to revolutions and the shattering of glass ceilings in terms of equality for women on various different levels. Now I know by no means are we anywhere near equality in terms of gender roles but it’s so interesting and important to read about how some of these speeches helped propel this fight to create change for women the world over.


Whilst reading this book, I felt an overwhelming sense of empowerment from a lot of the speeches that have been given by some of the most influential and strong women the world has ever seen. I also think it was a great addition to also add the flaws and negative associations that certain women of power had over the years. It’s so important to remember that unfortunately, not every women whose given powerful and revolutionary speeches have been on the right side of history. Although their speech may have enacted change or helped push a movement forward, they shouldn’t be labelled as ‘heroes’ of their time, particularly if these speeches focused what was affecting them directly, and actively marginalising and discriminating against other aspects of humanity who also deserved their voice to be heard I.e. race, religion, disabilities etc.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I found it really uplifting and empowering as well as thought provoking. It reminds you how powerful women are in this world. I think this is just an excellent book to have on your shelves, to give you that extra reminder that you’re capable of achieving whatever it is you want in life, but to also always speak up for yourself and others whenever you can, particularly for those who don’t have a voice that will be heard.

Thank you to NetGalley and White Lion Publishing for this eARC last year, which I’ve only just gotten around to reviewing!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Women's Speeches: Speeches by Great Women to Empower and Inspire by Anna Russell is a wonderful collection that serves to highlight a wide range of women and speech acts. This is not meant to be a study nor a collection of biographies but a collection that will spur readers to explore those women who most touched them.

I am thankful that entire speeches were not included, some readers apparently don't realize that most speeches, at the moment they are given, serve and address multiple issues and audiences. The parts of the speeches that last are the parts that resonate beyond that singular historical moment. The rest of most speeches are almost meaningless unless one is studying that very specific historical moment. I am also thankful Russel mostly chose to contextualize the speakers with respect to the chosen speech, otherwise the book could easily have become unwieldy.

For what this book sets out to do, I think it struck the right mix of short excerpts and explanations across a wide range of time and women rather than get bogged down in more information and probably either limit the breadth or triple the length of the book.

This is not some "cutesy" book for children, though it is designed in a way to engage them. This is a sampling of speeches that touch on most of the important topics people have faced, and continue to face, so making the book more accessible to more people is far more important than making a dry book that would only appeal to those wanting to read every detail. This book is an excellent jumping off point for both young and old readers no matter how familiar they may be with the women included.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Aleksandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really believe it is so incredibly important to read books like this from time to time in order to further educate ourselves on such important matters like women’s rights movement or institutional racism. By reading actual speeches by women who have been raising their voices and fighting this battle for so long, we get such a valuable insight into how crucial it is to continue their efforts and to use our voices for a good cause.

I was also happy to see the anthology is quite intersectional and includes numerous BIPOC voices (sadly only one LGBTQ speaker though). From Sarah Winnemucca fighting for the rights of her people in 1884, to Malala Yousafzai, Michelle Obama, and many more - this book made me feel inspired and motivated to speak up for changes that are absolutely necessary.

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book to dip into, to savor and to save. It will give girls and women a wonderful sense of what female speakers have talked about over the centuries. This title begins with a speech by Elizabeth I and ends with one given by Maya Lin. In between are many voices and authors with which readers are familiar and others that are new. To name just a few of those included: Sojourner Truth, Mary Church Terrell, Nellie MCClung, Nancy Astor, Eleanor Roosevelt, Hilary Clinton, Angela Merkel, and Emma Watson. I will want a hard copy of this title when it is issued as it is a book to return to time and again.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

**I received and voluntarily read an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

There are some amazing speeches to be found in this book. As with all collections such as this one, you feel as if there are a few speeches that were missed, You'll find some bits and pieces that you've heard before, but I guarantee you've probably never seen or heard most of these speeches in their entire form.

Overall, it's great collection of speeches from women around the globe. I'd definitely recommend adding it to any girl's shelf to help her feel empowered when she's feeling down.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

TWs for Great Women's Speeches - sexism, misogyny, slavery, mentions of r*pe

This was a fun book to read and I really liked the illustrations in it, but some parts of the book just don't make sense. How can a person who used bombs and acid on people be a great person? Why would they be included in this? Some of the women in here were very great people, and others sent a reg flag in my mind. (like the person who uses bombs and acid on people as a form of protest. There's just something wrong with that in my mind.) Overall, it's okay, but I feel that a book that is like this, but is so much better, would be a book called "Wonder Women" by Sam Maggs. Would highly recommend that book instead.

[Ellaryn Kraak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually SO empowering and made me strangely emotional. I don’t typically like this kind of thing. I thought it would be a typical boring, nonfiction book, and I was afraid it would be like sitting through a history lecture. It was actually incredibly moving. Now I’m about to read a bunch more feminist books. Maybe I should read more speeches; this was seriously great. Also it was surprisingly funny we had some hilarious baddies in history.

[Zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good potted history of who's who in feminism, helped me answer a University Challenge question correctly this week too! Something to dip in and out of. It also introduced me to many women that I'd not come across before as it's more intersectional than the kinds of thing I'd have studied 20 years ago. Some of the speeches seemed a bit abridged which was a shame, but I appreciate you have to keep this sort of thing brief to be impactful and give a platform to many different voices.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book, beautifully illustrated containing the iconic speeches (or extracts of speeches) from 50 great women from Elizabth I to Michelle Obama via Marie Curie, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Indira Gandhi Margaret Thatcher and others on the way. Each extract is accompanied by a short introduction, which was useful, as I was not familiar with all these great women and it helped give the context for each piece.

[AcademicEditor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of speeches, and nicely illustrated. It ranges from Elizabeth I to Eleanor Roosevelt to Malala to Maya Lin. The author includes suggestions of further profiles in history to research, and a bibliography.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Seher]

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

This is sweet if you're a kid. I could have done with it being less cutesy and with more solid information on these women and their lives and with more text from their speeches.

[Kate Schiffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

These speeches are well laid out and beautifully illustrated. Before each speech, there is background on the woman and the context that the speech was given in. Overall, this is a good reference to great woman's speeches throughout history.

[Laura Duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful anthology for the feminist in your life. A collection of some of the greatest speeche delivered by women from a wide array of expertise. It is so easy to pick this book up when you need a boost and read an inspiring and great speech.

[Larisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an Excellent read.

The illustrations beautifully capture the essence of their powerful subjects.

This book is an amazing gift to share - especially with the next generation of great thinkers and doers to come.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy.

A book of great captures in moments of time through the voices of powerful females who choose words to make the most impact on the world.

[Nav · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is more interested in introducing its readers to great women than those women’s speeches as they often don’t include the full text. It has a sharply organized aesthetic.

[Lana Conforti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great content in short and sweet pages. Nice artwork. Perfectly giftable.

[Blake McCracken · Rating 5 out of 5]

💗💗💗

[Nicole Perkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was disappointing in that I was expecting the full speeches to be printed, not excerpts.