The Greatest Speeches of All Time

By: Joan of Arc, Winston Churchill, Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Earhart, John F. Kennedy, George Washington

Narrated by: David Birney, Loretta Swit

Length: 1 hr and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The full list of authors includes: Susan B. Anthony, Joan of Arc, Winston Churchill, Jefferson Davis, Amelia Earhart, David Ben Gurion, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, Nikolai Lenin, Martin Luther, Richard Nixon, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Robespierre, and George Washington.

More than 40 speeches - considered among the greatest of all time - comprise this marvelous collection. All the works you'll hear are unabridged, and the most contemporary are live recordings. Other historical speeches are read by professional actors David Birney, Juliet Mills, Loretta Swit, and Stephanie Beacham. Included are speeches by Susan B. Anthony, Joan of Arc, Winston Churchill, Jefferson Davis, Amelia Earhart, David Ben Gurion, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, Nikolai Lenin, Martin Luther, Richard Nixon, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Robespierre, George Washington, and others.

(P) and ©1998 NewStar Media Inc.

greatness is relative

The book is a good resource for recordings of contemporary speeches, and those not captured in the original speakers voice are largely well done (not all, unfortunately). The choice of which speeches qualified for this book makes for a curious list, heavily weighted in the 20th Century. The choices from the last 30 years or so seem particularly out of place on a "Greatest" list. There are notable speeches missing as well, but all in all, the book is worth hearing and owning.

The Greatest Speeches, not the greatest speakers

This Audiobook included a great selection of history's best speeches, many of which took place before actual recordings could be made. Obviously, an actor was chosen to read these unrecorded speeches. While many of these speeches were read masterfully (the reading of "The Wrath of God") some of them were not. In fact, the reading of George Washington's Inaugural Address was difficult to follow due to lengthy, deep breaths that broke many sentences. I do not think that George Washington exercised extensively before his address, but apparently this interpretation disagrees.

Despite this, the collection is interesting and inspiring. The content and most of the readings deserve five stars.

It's a great book but I'm disappointed audible

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The time was well spent but I terribly disappointed the my older copy of the book was wiped off clean on my account without my permissions is that how audible do business ?

Surprisingly Good

Many of these speeches will be familiar to the listener. However, some of the most interesting ones for me were the speeches I had never even heard about, such as the one given by the first female in the British Parliment.

Also, the Washington speeches are very timely (or perhaps they are so timeless that they will always seem timely).

Significant Historical Context

This collection walks the listener through history with what is arguably, the most accurate representation of where we've been [as a society] and where we're headed. While I am no fan of Bill Clinton, his speech "The Coronation" is by far the best representation of mastery of oration as there ever was. Worth the price and the time to listen to, over and over.

Great, but one thing needed...

This is a real bargain if you are interested in public speaking. What is necessary for this particular title more than others is a list of speeches indexed by playing time, so that you can go directly to a particular speech...

The Greatest History of OLD times!

The title of this should THE GREATEST HISTORY OF OLD TIMES. Great speech compilation but not the greatest of all times. A little bit disappointed. I was surprised that Niel Amstrong was in this compilation which I hardly understand what he was saying while in the outerspace. Moreover, I find it odd that Bill Clinton's convocation speech made it as the greatest speech of all times (**shrugs**).

American Supremacy in Oration

From the perspective of this book, America has certainly cornered the market in great orators!

More info on impact

Great full to have these recorded in one place! Wish for more details on why the speeches were important. Or historical context

Choices and Reality

Assembling such a collection is always difficult because there are so many choices available. I can understand the emphasis on history/politics because that's where most of the material is available.

BTW, Chief Seattle's speech was ghost-written in 1971, nearly a century after he died.