SPEECHES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD cover speeches about power and equality. These include recurring themes such as politics and diplomacy, war and peace, freedom and justice, civil rights, and human rights. What they all have in common is the rhetoric: the power of persuasion.

The speeches reflect historic events of one of the most cataclysmic centuries as told by its heroes, villains, martyrs, and monsters. Josef Stalin and Mahatma Gandhi speak side by side with Nelson Mandela, Joseph McCarthy, the Kennedy brothers, and Fidel Castro. Speeches by George W. Bush and Arundhati Roy show conflicting views of our modern world.

These speeches carry the hopes and regrets of our modern world, and they have become even more powerful and poignant with the passage of time.