Book Description
The definitive compendium of classic and modern oratory expanded—with a new preface on what makes a speech "great."
An instant classic when it was first published a decade ago and now enriched by seventeen new speeches, Lend Me Your Ears contains more than two hundred outstanding moments of oratory. This third edition is selected, arranged, and introduced by William Safire, who honed his skills as a presidential speechwriter. He is considered by many to be America's most influential political columnist and most elegant explicator of our language. Covering speeches from Demosthenes to George W. Bush, this latest edition includes the words of Cromwell to the "Rump Parliament," Orson Welles eulogizing Darryl F. Zanuck, General George Patton exhorting his troops before D-Day, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaking on Bush v. Gore. A new section incorporates speeches that were never delivered: what Kennedy was scheduled to say in Dallas; what Safire wrote for Nixon if the first moon landing met with disaster; and what Clinton originally planned to say after his grand jury testimony but swapped for a much fiercer speech.
Customer Reviews:
Lend me your ears and eyes.......2007-01-11
Over 2000 years of the best speeches imaginable. One can sit for 10 minutes or 3 hours and devour the words of history's greatest men and women. A must for every student, political scientist and would be politician.
Shame on Norton! Listen to MLK "I have a dream" while reading this book.......2006-10-02
The text they have in the first edition of this book for the "I have a dream" speech so deviates from the actual speech, it leads you to wonder two things: a) what kind of crappy editors are reviewing this stuff? and b) if the MLK speech is so screwed up, can you trust the text they provide of the older speeches that you cannot verify by listening to recordings?
This sucks. I am seriously disappointed by the editors at Norton.
A Great Resource.......2006-04-12
It is so difficult to do justice to a book about great speeches. By definition, the content should be good - even great, which is partly why this book is such a rich treasure. The other reason why Lend Me Your Ears is such a useful resource is the commentary provided by editor William Safire.
Safire opens the book with "An Introductory Address." It is a witty treatise on the elements of a great speech. The ten steps (plus a "secret eleventh")he outlines are not original, but in total provide very good guidelines for the budding speechwriter.
Safire then provides context and a brief critique for each of the speeches referenced. These speeches range from ancient Greece to today. Some of them are not great speeches, some are not by nice people, but in their own way the speeches were effective - sometimes horribly so e.g. Adolph Hitler, Lenin, Stalin.
His commentary on Hitler for instance explains very simply and lucidly why this "curse of Hitler," in Winston Churchill's words, became so compelling to many Germans. "Hitler's speeches often lacked the strength of coherence, but with slashing racism and the powerful imagery of nationalism, he was able to delight and control crowds resentful of the reminders of past defeats."
I'm not sure if the reader will ever get to all the speeches in the book, but it is a great shelf item, to pick up at will, browse, imagine you were there when Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg, when Lou Gehrig bids farewell to baseball (in a beautiful short address)and when Senator Everett Dirksen extols the virtue of the Marigold. I kid you not.
Two gems I really appreciated and are little nuggets. Branch Rickey discovers the quality that makes a baseball player great (Ty Cobb), and Richard Nixon's eulogy for Senator Dirksen, which Safire admits he was partly responsible for.
For the keen student of communication and speech, this book is a treasure.
A classic work made up of classic works.......2006-02-17
Aside from the great speeches ( two hundred of them ) that constitute this volume and are its heart, there is also the informative introductory commentary of William Safire. This commentary serves not only as guide to each particular speech, but in general terms as a kind of extended essay on the art of speechmaking. And Safire makes it clear throughout that he views speechmaking as an art.
The anthology contains the great standard political speeches, Pericles, Demosthenes, Burke , Lincoln . It contains elegies and tributes, sermons , speeches of social responsibility, media speeches, speeches which mark out landmark occaisions in history.
This is a classic work which is made up of classic works. And in it is a must- have work for anyone who wishes to understand and know the art of speechmaking.
A book to be read and re-read and re-read and re-read. . . .......2005-12-27
If and when you first get this book, you'll find that it reads easily and fascinatingly from cover to cover. The real proof of the book's value, however, will come in the number of times that you pick it up off of the shelf and re-read favorite speeches. I've had my copy for several years now, and I have repeatedly referenced it whenever I needed inspiration.
No amount of general tutelage about the use of rhetoric can substitute for the instructive and emotive power of experiencing the great speeches of history. And this book includes one terrific, landmark speech, one after the other.
They come in all stripes: great political speeches, speeches of conscience and courage, and even some hilariously funny ones, among others.
A few notes on a few of the selections:
Lincoln's great speeches are here. For my money, the Second Inaugural is even more thrilling than the Gettysburg Address.
Martin Luther King's noble and inspiring "I Have a Dream" speech is here, of course, but it's worth reading time and again despite its familiarity. Everyone hears the climax of this speech repeated so frequently on video, that the balance and brilliant flow of the longer speech is sometimes forgotten. It is beautiful from start to finish, not just at the end.
I have a particular fondness for speeches of defiance and courage. Elizabeth I's speech to her troops as they prepared to face the Spanish Armada is amazing; you'll be ready to march to hell for her blindfolded after you read it. Nathan Sharansky's moving and courageous speech as he is about to be sentenced to a gulag by a Soviet court is a reminder of the power of conscience. I myself am not terribly religious, but I am thrilled by Martin Luther's speech wherein he defends his religious writings. It is a speech of courage and conviction that should inspire people of all creeds.
There is also some great hilarious stuff in here also. One speech on the Senate floor mocking the glories of a pork project in Duluth, Minnesota, will have you in stitches. And for those who are looking for the perfect put-down, look no further than the speech of William Pitt the Elder in response to an elderly member of the House of Commons: "Sir, the atrocious crime of being a young man, which the honorable gentleman has with such spirit and decency charged upon me, I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny, but content myself with wishing that I may be one of those whose follies may cease with their youth, and not of that number who are ignorant in spite of experience." Slam!
Read, savor, and learn -- time and again.
Book Description
It's not all in the delivery. Here's expert guidance on how to write a dynamic speech. Splashy slides, confident body language, and a lot of eye contact are fine and well. But if a speech is rambling, illogical, or just plain boring, the impact will be lost.
Now everyone can learn to give powerful, on-target speeches that capture an audience's attention and drive home a message. The key is not just in the delivery techniques, but in tapping into the power of language.
Prepared by an award-winning writer, this authoritative speech-writing guide covers every essential element of a great speech, including outlining and organizing, beginning with a bang, making use of action verbs and vivid nouns, and handling questions from the audience. Plus, the book includes excerpts from some of history's most memorable speeches--eloquent words to contemplate and emulate.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic- a great resource.......2006-01-27
Ultimately, what stays with an audience, is the content of your speech. Richard Dowis, a former journalist and retired senior vice president of Manning, Selvage, and Lee Public Relations provides information to help you effectively collect, organize and shape content into powerful speeches. He urges you to consider first the purpose of your speech, what you really want the audience to walk away with. Then, to fit your purpose into the format and time allotted. You must begin by researching your topic, clarifying your purpose, creating an outline and identifying a strong thesis, or unifying idea. When organizing your speech the most important consideration is that it must be logically organized. He identifies several organizational strategies you can use. For example, Chronological order, the "Big Bang" where a shocking thesis is presented up front, and Cause-and-effect which outlines the causes of a problem, describes its effect and suggests a solution. He also provides the following guidance on writing your speech:
1. Begin Well: Your opening should establish rapport with the audience, set the tone, reinforce your credibility and arouse interest in your subject. 5 categories of opening are: novelty, dramatic, question, humorous and reference/quote.
2. Watch Your Language: Avoid Jargon and overly complex language. Try instead for a simple elegance. Be yourself.
3. Use Proven Techniques: The Rule of Three: Organize related thoughts into groups of three to make them more memorable and dramatic. Anaphora: repeat words or phrases at the beginning of several sentences.
4. When using statistics: make them interesting and meaningful, express statistics in terms your audience can understand, and avoid using too many raw figures in a row.
5. Closing the Speech: use your closing to reinforce your point, or to reinforce the goal of the speech. Most closings fall into seven categories: Summary, Wrap-up, Direct appeal, Thesis, Reference, Inspirational, and Humorous/Anecdotal.
6. Editing: When editing consider content, organization, style, language and grammar.
The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One--How to Deliver It.......2005-09-09
I originally checked this out at the library and realized I needed it in my reference collection. It's well writen, informative and fun to read. The author walks you step by step through the process of writing a speech to giving it, along with useful tricks of the speech writers trade. I highly recommend it.
An Excellent Resource for Speakers.......2002-10-03
Richard Dowis spends no time lamenting this lost art. Instead he focuses his energy on its resurrection.
Dowis's background in journalism and public relations provided the foundation for his writing a remarkably readable book. His conversational style serves as a model for the language you would want to hear -- and use -- in a speech. Frequent headings and an especially legible font also contribute to the book's readability.
In _The Lost Art of the Great Speech_, Dowis addresses every conceivable aspect of this topic -- from deciding whether to accept a speaking engagement to "leveraging" a speech by converting it to one or more publishable articles. The book takes a holistic approach to speech writing. Chapters follow the process of speech preparation, including delivery as well as crafting. In addition, Dowis discusses topics such as how to write a speech to be delivered by someone else and how to introduce a speaker.
Each chapter includes pertinent excerpts from actual speeches, many taken from the business world, and also includes a full speech or a substantial excerpt of a speech by a well-known person. Many of these speeches have historical significance. Having asserted that "reading and listening to speeches is one of the keys to learning how to write and deliver them," Dowis supplies us with many examples to study.
Dowis devotes several chapters to rhetorical devices that can lift a speech from the respectable to the eloquent. To illustrate how rhetoric can immortalize a concept, he compares several versions of an idea that appeared in speeches by famous Americans.
In addition to a detailed index, _The Lost Art of the Great Speech_ includes two helpful appendices: An Editing Checklist for Speech Writers and Resources for Speakers and Speech Writers.
_The Lost Art of the Great Speech_ is a valuable resource for anyone who might have the opportunity to address a group of people. Although it does not include study questions or practice exercises, it would be an excellent book for a class of high school or college students as well as for adults who are studying independently.
This is a terrific book!.......2001-08-09
Although this book was written for business folk, it serves as a tremendous text for high school students. The suggestions are clear, the models exemplary, and the writing concise. Also, the texts of speeches that end nearly every chapter are well-chosen. AND there's a handy appendix listing resources for speakers and writers.
A Must Read.......2001-05-05
For those of you who don't like text book reads but need the information, this is the book for you. This book gives useful information and useful hints on speech writing and speech giving. It is the best of Speech Communication classes and everyday ideas for the beginner in public speaking and the expert speech writer.
Book Description
By any reasonable judgment, Burke has to be considered one of the world's outstanding thinkers on politics.-- Peter J. Stanlis, from his Preface
Customer Reviews:
A Classical Regnery Anthology of a Conservative Luminary.......2005-02-02
~Edmund Burke: Selected Writings and Speeches~ is a great anthology of conservative luminary Edmund Burke's political and social writings. Burke is considered by many to be the godfather of conservatism. The Irish-born British conservative entered Trinity College at Dublin in 1744 and later moved to London in 1750. In 1770, in his tract entitled the 'Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents,' he scolded George III for his efforts at undoing the hard-won liberties that were thought to have been secured by the Glorious Revolution. Burke was a champion of the rule of law, and surmised that prerogatives of the king may not usurp that law, and that even the magistrates are to be constrained by the law. He defended the constraining hand of Parliament against the king's usurpations and cronyism in political appointments. He supported principled, calm, deliberative criticism of royal prerogatives by Parliamentarians, which he held to be a vital link in the preservation of the British constitution and ordered liberty.
Burke was an Old Whig, and on the Right side of the political spectrum and had no rosy delusions about human nature. His contemporaries on the Left like Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a positive and a optimistic view of human nature, and in his eyes humanity merely needed to be liberated from the decadent enslaving institutions of civil society. On the other hand, Burke recognized man's sinful nature and innate depravity and incorporated the Augustinian-Christian doctrine of original sin into his political philosophy. "Whatever disunites man from God, also disunites man from man," declares Burke. What is more, Burke does not see equality as self-evident, but he astutely observes that inequality is part of the natural order of things. The ideal equality to strive for was equality before the law, not equality of condition or even opportunity. Burke recognized that the illusive search for equality was in fact destructive of the liberty that was to accompany it because egalitarian ideology was fundamentally at odds with human nature. For this reason, Burke was opposed to the French Revolution and scolded the Jacobin rebellion for its barbarity, its egalitarian tyranny, and the unattainable antinomy of absolute freedom that was sought after. He likewise abhorred the initial English enthusiasm for the events across the sea in France and lamented that such an upheaval would never afflict England. Yet Burke, an Old Whig was a champion of the Rights of the Englishmen, and spoke out on behalf of the American, Irish and the Indian colonials. "Good order is the foundation of all things," quipped Burke in his Reflections on the French Revolution. Burke offered much prescriptive wisdom about reforming and bettering civil society while conserving the vital remnants and traditions so vitally requisite to the continuity of civil society. He yielded his acquiescence of support to the American Cause of 1776 and the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Burke assailed the abuses perpetrated against American colonials in exploitative taxation, arbitrary suspension of the rights of colonials and an overall condescending attitude of contempt that pervaded the attitude of government towards the colonial subjects therein. Burke worked tirelessly for conciliation between British and American colonials, though the Tories prevailed and their efforts to spite and to subjugate the colonials only led to the American colonials' victorious secession by force of arms. Furthermore, Burke was opposed to the aggrandizing of power and the corruption of the law, and recognized that ordered liberty must be upheld. Burke observed, "Bad law is the worst sort of tyranny." He was practical and pragmatic to the extent needed without discarding first principles, as he accepted that, "All government-indeed, every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act-is founded on compromise and barter." Yet Burke was mistrustful of concentrated power and observed, "Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never can willingly abandon it. They may be distressed in the midst of all their power; but they will never look to anything but power for their relief."
The reductionism and sophistry of modern critics casts conservatives as knaves who nostalgically seek preservation of the status quo irrespective of whatever tyrannies and social pathologies afflict the people. However, Burke above all shows that classical conservatism is not quixotic sentimentalism about tradition but rather a desire to conserve those vital remnants so necessary to continuation of ordered liberty while improving civil society through patient, contemplative, informed and calmly deliberative political dialogue. Sometimes standing up to sheer tyranny through resistance and civil disobedience is in order. Though, "Our patience will achieve more than our force," avowed Burke. Burke justly condemned the barbarity of the French Revolution and no doubt considers the interposition of the lesser magistrates as requisite in combating the usurpations of higher magistrates, ministers, and leaders.
All things considered, this brilliant anthology of Burke's more renowned works is certainly a great introduction to the perennial conservative.
conservatism's bard.......2000-10-22
What a heady time were the late 1700's. For hundreds, even thousands, of years, Western man had been saddled with monarchy; kings who were said to rule by divine right. But by the end of the 18th century, Martin Luther, John Locke and Adam Smith had propounded the essential framework for modern liberal capitalist democracy and the Revolution in America had launched a grand experiment based on those ideas. Then came the French Revolution and it was blithely assumed that here again Liberty was on the march. When suddenly, rising to meet the tide of history, came Edmund Burke to excoriate the Jacobins and denounce the Revolution. In so doing, he not only did mankind a great service, by sounding the alarms against unchecked liberty, he also basically gave birth to modern Conservatism. Today, after a long period in the wilderness, particularly during the Cold War, Edmund Burke has come roaring back into fashion. In a sense, he has finally won his argument with the defenders of the French Revolution, two hundred years after the fact, and is reaping the spoils.
For two centuries a controversy has raged over Burke's political philosophy, in particular whether the great defender of American, Irish and Indian rights was inconsistent in opposing the French Revolution. The very existence and the stubborn persistence of this controversy seem to demonstrate either a complete misunderstanding or a willful misrepresentation of Burke's basic arguments. One suspects it's a bit of both. The greatness of Burke lies in the fact that he was among the first, and certainly the most eloquent, defenders of democracy to recognize the dangers it entails; that power in the hands of the masses is just as great a threat to liberty as when it lies in the hand of a dictator or king. This point had been amply demonstrated in France, where the revolutionists had quickly abandoned any concern for personal freedom and had moved on to a bloody demand for equality--freedom's enemy.
It is here that we arrive at the key point that divides the modern Left and Right. The Left believes (a la Rousseau) that man is by nature "good" and all men are born with equal abilities, but that environmental factors and corrupt institutions warp individuals, making some evil and keeping others from realizing their full potentials; which if realized would make them equal to other men. The goal of the Left is therefore to remove, by any means necessary, these environmental and institutional impediments and return to an imagined state of nature where all men are good and are equally able; where Man will be governed by pure reason.
The Right, on the other hand, recognizes that man is inately "evil"; that is, evil in the sense that he is self centered and will generally act in his own interest not the interest of others. Moreover, men are inherently unequal; in the state of nature, the able will tyrannize the less able. It is for these reasons that men form governments in the first place; to protect themselves from one another. The goal of the Right is to provide each individual with the greatest personal freedom and utmost opportunity to realize his potential, consistent with the basic safety concerns that gave birth to the state in the first instance. Conservatives realize that pure reason will not lead men to treat each other with justice, by nature, men will always seek advantage over one another. The State and other institutions safeguard us against this eventuality.
This fundamental difference can not be overstated. Prior to the 18th century, the Left would have included all democrats, while the Right would have been made up of monarchists and supporters of aristocracy. But beginning with the French Revolution, this fissure separated the regnant liberal forces into two competing camps, setting the stage for the two century long contest that ended in the early 1990's with the fall of the Soviet Union. Both sides would produce great men, original theorists, brilliant writers and magnificent orators, but none of them would ever surpass Burke and his mastery of all these fields. Rare are the men who so clearly perceive the fundamental issues that confront mankind. They seem at times to be travelers from the future, come to warn us about what horrors the years to come will hold unless we obey their counsel. Rarer still are the occasions when we heed them. We can only imagine the millions of lives that would have been saved had people followed Burke's vision rather that that of Rousseau and Jefferson and Marx.
Happily, here in America, James Madison's Constitution embodies many of the same ideas and protects against many of the concerns which Burke expressed. The adoption of representative, rather than direct, democracy; the bicameral legislature and tripartite government; the careful system of checks and balances; the protection of basic rights from government interference: these are all, though we seldom discuss them in these terms, intended to protect the individual from the potentially tyrannical effects of democracy. When commentators speak of the genius of the American system, whether they realize it or not, it is to this central fact that they refer. So while critics have struggled to understand a false dichotomy in Burke's thought, we (and to a lesser extent the Brits) have enjoyed the fruits of a political system which assumes that his critique of democracy is less theory than received wisdom. For whatever reason, it took two hundred years and countless millions of lives before the rest of the world recognized what Burke (the bard) and Madison (the draftsman) had known all along; two centuries that proved them indisputably correct.
GRADE: A+
One of the 25 most important conservative books.......2000-08-05
If Ronald Reagan is the great communicator, Burke must be the extraordinary communicator. Someone once said that pages of Burke are like sheets of fire.
During the time he lived, in the 18th century, most political leaders were hereditary aristocrats, but Burke, like Cicero, did not descend from generations of prominent leaders. He earned his leadership in British politics through the power of his mind, by studying political principles and applying them to real circumstances. A superficial look at Burke's career might tempt one to dismiss him as a failure. Most of the causes to which he devoted himself were not successful in his lifetime.
Prior to the American Revolution, he wrote brilliantly on behalf of conciliation between Britain and the American colonies. He argued for fair treatment of India by Britain. He argued for fair treatment of the Irish by the British and for Catholic emancipation in England. In time these positions won acceptance, but the acceptance came after Burke's death.
Fortunately, he did live long enough to see the triumph of the greatest work of his life: his effort to awaken his country to the fundamentally destructive but superficially attractive nature of the French Revolution. His thorough and, I believe, inspired condemnation of the French Revolution swept British majority opinion. To Burke, more than any other politician of his time, goes the credit for creating the intellectual force which saved Europe from revolutionary chaos and dictatorship.
Modern-day conservatives are also profoundly in his debt, as his writings against the French revolution provided the philosophical foundation for anti-communism in particular and ordered liberty in general. Read Burke. All his writings on government and politics are a rich ore, studded with gems of wisdom.
Book Description
Nearly 300 speeches from nearly every historical era: Socrates, Julius Caesar, St. Francis, Martin Luther, Napoleon, Victor Hugo, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Fulton J. Sheen, Barbara Jordan, Malcolm X, Ronald Reagan, Nelson Mandela, Earl of Spencer, and many others offer provocative themes, historic parallels, and memorable quotations.
Customer Reviews:
The choice of the speeches included is part of the value of this collection and much can be learned from who and what is chosen.......2007-10-07
230 speakers, 278 speeches, over 800 pages taken from throughout history. Each speech has a short biographical note that precedes each speaker and offers some insight into why the speech is presented.
The introduction to the book offers a number of reasons to read this suggesting that it is a treasure house for public speakers and so on. I found it interesting to see what was picked for the specific authors.
When you list all of these mostly well-known and influential individuals in this book the very speeches chosen for the representation make a statement worth thinking about. For example was Socrates really the most eloquent in his speech when condemned to death or what overall outlook on life something that may have been overlooked in this book? Likewise Caesar for all that he did is captured only in his comments about "the treatment of Conspirators". The speeches put a label on those that made them through their inclusion and offer a unique view of history.
The book has a lot of surprises. Red Jacket's speech to the chiefs concerning the actions of the white missionaries is a pleasant surprise to find in this list. As expected you find several from Lincoln and Kennedy. Probably not expected by many would be speeches from Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini.
The book brings focus to many that we know well and to some that maybe we ought to know better.
A core academic and community library reference work........2000-02-03
This enlarged, revised edition gathers almost three hundred great speeches from nearly every historical era and nation from ancient to modern times, and makes for an outstanding volume. This edition adds fourteen important speeches delivered between 1974-97 and makes for an exciting display of messages.
Book Description
With endorsements from two of the largest and most influential public speaking groups -- the National Speakers Association and Toastmasters International -- this book is written by an expert speechwriter whose eloquent voice leads readers through the difficult process of writing a great speech. In these pages a seasoned speechwriter reveals his trade secrets - from analyzing the needs of an audience to leaving them with a satisfying sense of closure - as he guides readers through the process of planning, writing, and honing an outstanding speech. Readers will discover effective ways to connect with an audience, explain concepts, and support ideas, learn how to time and cut a speech when necessary. The bottom line? When readers have finished this book, they will be well on their way to making their next big speech a big success! Anyone -- from a businessperson to a community member -- who wants to learn the skills necessary to write and deliver a memorable speech.
Part of the Essence of Public Speaking Series.
Customer Reviews:
Necessary for any great speech.......2002-03-26
I had an important ceremony coming up and I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to wow the crowd. This book gave me enough good ideas to research, write, and deliver a great speech. I had three goals for my speech: Establish myself as a great speaker, make the audience understand that I had written a great speech, and bring the receipient to the point of tears.
I did just that. The crowd was taken aback by my speech and that speech ended up being the one thing that everyone remembered about that evening.
I strongly encourage anyone who has a speaking engagement coming up to read this book. It will give you the guidance necessary to write a great speech regardless of the reason.
Best Public Speaking Book for analytical & intense reader.......2001-01-12
In architecture schools considerable time is spent on materials for building. The potential of the materials determines what can be built and how it will look and feel. How is it that other public speaking books spend so little time on choosing the right word. Perlman spends a great deal of effort on teaching how to find and select the right word. He demonstrates how the right word for speaking is different than the right word for written communication. You can be a great writer without being a good speaker, but you can't be a great speaker without being a good writer.
"Writing Great Speeches" is for the analytical or educated reader that can handle a fast and furious pace. A direct approach on how to research and construct well organized speeches. Should be ranked high on anybody's list of excellent books on public speaking. It is the best book in the "Essence of Public Speaking Series." Excellent guidance on how to start writing a speech where you are knowledgeable on the subject and how to research areas that are not your expertise. Excellent chapter on how to pick exactly the right word and why it is important.
No other book covers demonstrating legitimate creditability as well as Perlman. He focuses in on exactly how to write great speeches. Like a fast moving train you are carried down the track of learning the skills with overpowering intensity.
The Appendix of Aids to Quick Creditability is worth the price of the book. It is a refreshing list of reference books the provide a map to rapidly gaining knowledge on any subject.
If you are like me nearly every book I read is disappointing in its content and /or its clarity and hence we read many books when a subject is important to us. Extremely rare do we find books so insightful and tightly written that we read it many times. These special books are so important that they will always stand out in your memory. This may be that book on public speaking for crafting the speech.
Average customer rating:
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The Writings and Speeches of Edmund Burke: Volume VI: India: The Launching of the Hastings Impeachment 1786-1788 (Writings and Speeches of Edmund Burke)
Edmund Burke
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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ASIN: 0198217889 |
Book Description
This volume continues the story of Burke and the affairs of the East India Company which was begun in Volume V (OUP 1981, #70.00, 0-19-822417-6). By 1786, Burke had fixed on Warren Hastings as the main culprit for the abuses that seemed to him so glaring. He greeted Hastings's return to Britain with a parliamentary attack which culminated in a trial by impeachment in the House of Lords. This was to be one of Burke's major preoccupations for the rest of his life. The material presented in this volume covers two years of proceedings in the House of Commons and the first session of the trial in the Lords. Its highlights are two great set-piece speeches delivered to the Commons, which can be reconstructed from manuscript material as well as from contemporary reports; and the four-day oration with which Burke opened the prosecution before the Lords: for this a complete verbatim shorthand record exists. The material in these and other speeches is not only central to an understanding of Burke and India, but to his moral and political thought as a whole in the years immediately before the outbreak of the French Revolution.
Book Description
This anthology comprises speeches by influential figures in the history of African-American culture and politics. Contents include the famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech by Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass' immortal "What, to the Slave, Is the Fourth of July?" Martin Luther King, Jr.,'s "I Have a Dream," Barack Obama, and many others.
Customer Reviews:
Africa Receives Them Back........2007-03-23
This book was bought for a missionary in the rain forest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for his schools. The schools are for the Batwa pygmy students. Their tribe in recent times was dominated by the Ekonda Master tribe. Now they are schooled together. This is for their English and History classes and their library.
The missionary who started the schools through Mission Pendjua, Dr. Jerry Galloway MD, feels this book will be a powerful influence and also give them the insight into the American expression of being an African American.
In a sense, "what comes round goes round" and this book and it's information and hope are being returned to Africa. It is powerful to realize that generations later, these authors and speakers are leading the way for the coming changes of the African continent.
Joyce M. Grubbs
best readings.......2007-01-30
this is a book that will give you insight into a lot of issues.
Great Speeches by African Americans.......2007-01-22
Interesting accounts of historic figures in african american history as displaced in the memorable speeches. Gives insight into the thinking and beliefs of some the great african american leaders of past and present times. If you are a historican of african american leaders or an avid reader, I would strongly recommend reading this book.
Product Description
`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.
Customer Reviews:
Check and see.......2007-06-21
I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.
Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22
Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.
Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05
We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:
a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;
b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;
c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.
Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:
It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.
- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.
- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.
Fomenko goes by the following axioms:
- Chronology is the basis of history;
- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;
- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;
- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;
- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;
- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.
Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?
The Russians:
Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.
The Westerners:
Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.
The Chinese:
Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.
The Arabs:
Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.
The Divinity:
Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.
According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.
St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."
Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09
After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.
However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:
- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.
I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.
The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.
It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?
Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.
Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30
If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?
Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.
Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..
Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.
Book Description
Brits and Americans dress the same, eat at the same chain restaurants, pass music back and forth across the Atlantic, and our national leaders are practically conjoined twins. But the second the Brits open their mouths, all bets are off. So don’t dream of visiting the UK, dating a Brit, or truly understanding what Jude Law is saying without this handy, hilarious, and informative guide to Britspeak. With the cheekiness of Austin Powers and the tidbit quotient of Schott’s Miscellany, screenwriter Jonathan Bernstein’s collection of Cockney rhyming slang, insults culled from British television shows of yore, and regional and “high British” favorites provides hours of educational, enlightening, even life saving hilarity. And if it doesn’t accomplish that, at least you’ll be aware that when a British citizen describes you as a “wally,” a “herbert,” a “spanner,” or a “bampot,” he’s not showering you with compliments. Knickers in a Twist is as indispensable as a London city guide, as spot-on funny as an episode of The Office, and as edifying as Born to Kvetch and Eats, Shoots and Leaves.
Customer Reviews:
Usefully funny!.......2006-10-30
Fans of Bernstein's Guardian column in the UK will be well-acquainted with his trenchant wit - on brilliant display here, too, as he tackles a potentially unwieldy subject. Where most dictionaries of this type are poorly written and dry as dust, "Knickers" handles both the well-known (e.g. the title) and the obscure (too many examples to list) linguistic peculiarities of the Queen's English with style. A must for Anglophiles and a rare treat for the casual reader and/or traveler.
Book Description
Award-winning presidential scholar and speechwriter Wynton Hall brings together the Republican Party’s greatest oratorical gems, from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Teddy Roosevelt's the Man with the Muckrake to Ronald Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" and George W. Bush's "our mission and our moment" speech after 9/11. Hall examines the historical context of each of these great addresses and reveals the persuasive secrets that make each speech truly outstanding.
Customer Reviews:
Even those of other parties will gain insight from this collection.......2007-05-05
This book is valuable for two reasons. First, it is not a random collection of one person's view as to what constitutes a great speech. The 17 speeches examined here are oriented around eternal Republican themes of individual (rather than collective) responsibility; a belief in values that are absolute, not relative; and a strong national defense, the foundation of individual civil liberties.
Second, each speech is intertwined with commentary on its historical setting. Platitudes need no explanation. Great speeches, though, are rooted in a specific historical context while also appealing to timeless values.
Those of other political parties will gain from reading this book. It is not meant to convert but to educate. Serious people will want to look beyond the caricature of Republicans so often presented in many media sources. Understanding the basic beliefs of one of America's two major political parties is valuable regardless of one's political persuasion.
Add this to your library!.......2007-04-07
Mr. Hall has given us all a chance to better understand the speeches that have shaped our world. I am intrigued by the way he interprets these words and allows the reader to become a part of US history. An easy read and entertaining, not to mention educational.
Keep an eye on Hall.......2007-02-25
Wynton Hall is one of the bright young conservative writers, It's delightfully informative to read his books. He does his research and knows how to explain today's political rhetoric. Keep your eye on him.
Wonderful Analysis of Rhetoric!!!!!.......2007-02-04
Wynton Hall's insight displays his knowledge as a rhetorician. The preview chapters I read on the publisher's website were well written and documented. In my opinion, this book is not only important because of its analysis of rhetoric but that it also reveals how much these speeches have affected the world. The Right Words is quite different from Home of the Brave and the Greatest Communicator but his writing ability makes it a wonderful read.
Must Read !!!!.......2007-02-04
"I loved Hall's last book. This one is different but just as good if not better. It felt like I was in the audience for these famous speeches.
I was familiar with some of them, but others I'd never even heard of, which made it all the more fascinating to read. If you're a Republican I don't see how you can not read this one. It's a fun, fast read. I give it two thumbs up."
Books:
- Letter to a Christian Nation
- Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and Other Short Fiction (Bantam Classic)
- Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany
- Modern Hydronic Heating for Residential and Light Commercial Buildings, 2E
- Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain (**)
- NeuroTheology: Brain, Science, Spirituality, Religious Experience
- One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd
- Our Lady of the Lost and Found: A Novel of Mary, Faith, and Friendship
- Pacific Vortex!
- Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock (A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts)
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