Great American Speeches

Rating:
Summary: Americana prime
Review: This collection of some of the greatest speeches made by Americans gives the reader an idea of what culture and politics were like at different times in American history. The book is like an album of verbal snapshots of history. The speeches cover a wide range of topics and speakers. One aspect that intrigued me was how the nature of speeches has changed over time; speeches, especially political ones used to be longer than today's speeches. With a President not being able to call a nationally-televised press conference, almost at any time, Presidents used to have to pack every speech with as much meaning and impact, and as many ideas, as possible. I wonder if attention spans, then unaccustomed to commercial advertisements and television series, with their condensed information and/or stories, were longer, and people more comfortable with sitting for long periods to thoroughly listen to what a man has to say?

Rating:
Summary: Americana prime
Review: This collection of some of the greatest speeches made by Americans gives the reader an idea of what culture and politics were like at different times in American history. The book is like an album of verbal snapshots of history. The speeches cover a wide range of topics and speakers. One aspect that intrigued me was how the nature of speeches has changed over time; speeches, especially political ones used to be longer than today's speeches. With a President not being able to call a nationally-televised press conference, almost at any time, Presidents used to have to pack every speech with as much meaning and impact, and as many ideas, as possible. I wonder if attention spans, then unaccustomed to commercial advertisements and television series, with their condensed information and/or stories, were longer, and people more comfortable with sitting for long periods to thoroughly listen to what a man has to say?

Rating:
Summary: A Patchwork Quilt of History
Review: This is a small collection of speeches given by America's great thinkers and leaders. Suriano goes beyond the orators of government and politics. I enjoy the fact that famous speeches I have only heard a few lines to are now provided for me in full. Given the number of famous speeches, I believe Suriano has done an excellent job in his selection.

Rating:
Summary: A Patchwork Quilt of History
Review: This is a small collection of speeches given by America's great thinkers and leaders. Suriano goes beyond the orators of government and politics. I enjoy the fact that famous speeches I have only heard a few lines to are now provided for me in full. Given the number of famous speeches, I believe Suriano has done an excellent job in his selection.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read, A Must Have.
Review: This is an amazing collection of speeches. Suriano does a clever job at selecting specific speeches from Americas history. He does not select random speeches, rather he selects those that exemplify and embody the issues that plagued or benefitted America at the time these were written. One can read this entire book and have an understanding of what was going on in the 1770's, 1860's, 1990's, etc. He does not only select speeches that show America in the most glorious light, he also selects those that depict America as a dimming failure. I highly recommend this book as it is an excellent tool, in it of itself, for combating the ignorance that plagues this country. In reading this book people will see that some of the issues we face today, are repeats of what America went through before and continues to go through now. This book is an excellent source of information for the novice historian, or an excellent supplemental piece for the advanced researcher. To put it in simple terms, I love this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read, A Must Have.
Review: This is an amazing collection of speeches. Suriano does a clever job at selecting specific speeches from Americas history. He does not select random speeches, rather he selects those that exemplify and embody the issues that plagued or benefitted America at the time these were written. One can read this entire book and have an understanding of what was going on in the 1770's, 1860's, 1990's, etc. He does not only select speeches that show America in the most glorious light, he also selects those that depict America as a dimming failure. I highly recommend this book as it is an excellent tool, in it of itself, for combating the ignorance that plagues this country. In reading this book people will see that some of the issues we face today, are repeats of what America went through before and continues to go through now. This book is an excellent source of information for the novice historian, or an excellent supplemental piece for the advanced researcher. To put it in simple terms, I love this book.