About this item
With over a million copies already sold, this is the newly updated edition of the definitive collection of great speeches ancient and modern. From calls to arms to demands for peace, and from cries of freedom to words of inspiration, this stirring anthology captures the voices of prophets and politicians, rebels and tyrants, soldiers and statesman, placing them in historical context. This revised edition includes speeches that have shaped the modern world: from Aung San Suu Kyi on freedom to Al Gore on the environment and from Malala Yousafzai on the education of women to Pope Francis on peace. A biography of each speechmaker reveals how they came to stand at the crossroads of history, and each speech is accompanied by an introduction explaining its historical context and how it influenced the momentous events of the day - as well as those that followed. Moving and thought-provoking, this new edition will continue to inspire and enlighten readers, offering them a fascinating perspective on historical milestones through the power of the spoken word. Contents include: Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Barack Obama, Pope Francis, Martin Luther King, Elizabeth I, Oliver Cromwell, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Emmeline Pankhurst, Mahatma Gandhi, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, General George S. Patton, Mao Zedong, Malcolm X, Vaclav Havel, Mikhail Gorbachev, Indira Gandhi and Winston Churchill to name a few.
About the Author
Simon Sebag Montefiore is the internationally bestselling author of prize-winning works of history, novels and books for children. His latest book, WRITTEN IN HISTORY: LETTERS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, is a selection of great letters from ancient times to the 21st century, including letters on power, love, art, sex, faith, war. His next book VOICES OF HISTORY: SPEECHES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD is due to be published in September. Montefiore's history titles include: WRITTEN IN HISTORY: LETTERS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, THE ROMANOVS, JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHY, YOUNG STALIN, STALIN: THE COURT OF THE RED TSAR and CATHERINE THE GREAT & POTEMKIN. He is the author of the Moscow Trilogy of novels: SASHENKA, RED SKY AT NOON and ONE NIGHT IN WINTER. Montefiore is also the author of a series of childrens' novels - ROYAL RABBITS OF LONDON - co-written with Santa Montefiore. Montefiore has won prizes for his works, both non-fiction and fiction. His novel, ONE NIGHT IN WINTER won the Best Political Novel of the Year Prize and was longlisted for the Orwell Prize. Among his history books, CATHERINE THE GREAT & POTEMKIN was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson, Duff Cooper, and Marsh Biography Prizes. STALIN: THE COURT OF THE RED TSAR won the History Book of the Year Prize at the British Book Awards. YOUNG STALIN won the Costa Biography Award (UK) , the LA Times Book Prize for Biography (USA) , Le Grand Prix de la Biographie Politique (France) and the Kreisky Prize for Political Literature (Austria) . JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHY was a global number 1 bestseller and won the Wenjin Book of the Year Prize (awarded by the Library of China in People's Republic of China) and the Book of the Year Prize from the Jewish Book Council (USA) . THE ROMANOVS won the Lupicaia del Terriccio Literature Prize (Italy) , was chosen as one of Oprah Winfrey's Books of the Year (USA) and has been a bestseller all over the world, including the UK, Australia, Brazil, Spain and the USA where it was in the New York Times bestseller list for eight weeks. Many of his books are now being developed as TV drama series or movies. Montefiore read history at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge University where he was awarded his Doctorate of Philosophy. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Visiting Professor at the University of Buckingham, Dr Montefiore has written and presented fiver BBC TV series including Jerusalem (2011) ; Rome (2012) and Istanbul/Constantinople - 'Byzantium: a tale of 3 cities' (2013) ; Spain - 'Blood & Gold' (2015) and Vienna (2016) . Follow the author on twitter: @simonmontefiore. For more information: www.simonsebagmontefiore.com
