Book description
In this fascinating book, Chris Abbott, a leading political analyst,
takes a close look at 21 key speeches which have shaped the world
today. He examines the power of the arguments embedded in these
speeches to inspire people to achieve great things, or do great harm.
Abbott draws upon his political expertise to explain how our current
understanding of the world is rooted in pivotal moments of history.
These moments are captured in the words of a range of influential
speakers including: Emmeline Pankhurst, Martin Luther King, Jr, Enoch
Powell, Napoleon Beazley, Kevin Rudd, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Ronald
Reagan, George W. Bush, Osama bin Laden, Margaret Beckett, Winston
Churchill, Salvador Allende, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Tim
Collins, Mohandas Gandhi, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Robin Cook and Barack
Obama.
The speeches in this book are arranged thematically, linked by
concepts such as 'might is right', 'with us or against us' and 'give
peace a chance'. Each transcript is accompanied by an insightful
commentary that analyses how the words relate to our modern society.
Fresh and relevant, this is a book that will make you stop in your
tracks and think about what is really happening in the world today.
Chris Abbott is a writer and researcher specialising in international
security and foreign affairs. He is the founder and Executive Director
of Open Briefing, the world's first civil society intelligence agency
(www. openbriefing. org). He is also an Honorary Visiting Research
Fellow in the School of Social and International Studies at the
University of Bradford, and Honorary Sustainable Security Consultant to
Oxford Research Group (a leading global security think tank, of which he
was Deputy Director until 2009). See www. chrisabbott. info for more
information.
