A speech can be many things. It can be a call to arms by a leader to its people to volunteer in the war, or it can be a clarion call of hope and peace, imbuing its audience with positivity to fight against the evils.
The speeches chronicled in this edition have come from men and women of different ages, faiths, political beliefs and assorted milieus and yet all without exception have been received to thundering applause, effects of which have reverberated outside the physical setting in which they were delivered . . . Which begets the query: what makes a speech great?
A great speech is one that has substance, is delivered with impact, is well-written and constructed and which speaks to a generation about the turmoil of its times yet keeps a firm finger on the pulse of the ethos of humanity.
This edition is populated with the rhetoric of such people whose artfully-delivered and perfectly-worded speeches caught the fancy, imagination and heart of their listeners and heralded people and nations into better, stronger times.