The Penguin Book of Modern Speeches

From Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama, from Gandhi to Mandela, the most significant speeches of the modern era

Whether the rousing words of Winston Churchill, the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Salman Rushdie’s denouncement of his fatwa, or the optimism of Barack Obama, speeches shape the way we understand ourselves and those around us like never before. Gathered here are some of the most extraordinary and memorable speeches of modern times. Some are well known, others are not, but all, in their way, have had a hand in shaping the world we now inhabit.

Originally published as The Penguin Book of Twentieth-Century Speeches, this new edition has been updated to include some of the most important speeches from the first decade of the new century.