The Great British Speeches

50 speeches from every period of British history from the medieval era to the present and a fascinating dip-in history title that will both inspire readers and give them a greater understanding of British history.

The speechmakers are: King Henry V; Queen Elizabeth I; King Charles I; Oliver Cromwell; Earl of Shelburne; Edmund Burke (3); Charles James Fox (2); William Pitt (2); Warren Hastings; William Wilberforce; R.B. Sheridan; Robert Peel; Charles Grey; Thomas Carlyle; Lord Palmerston; John Bright (2); Benjamin Disraeli; William Gladstone; James Campbell-Bannerman; F.E. Smith; David Lloyd George (2); Stanley Baldwin; King Edward VIII; King George VI; Winston Churchill (4); Aneurin Bevan; Harold Macmillan (2); Hugh Gaitskell (2); Nigel Birch; Harold Wilson; Enoch Powell (2); Michael Foot; Margaret Thatcher (2); Neil Kinnock; Geoffrey Howe; Charles Spencer; Tony Blair.

Simon Heffer read English at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He joined the Daily Telegraph in 1986. In 1991 he became Deputy Editor of the Spectator. From 1994 to 1995 he was Deputy Editor of the Daily Telegraph and the paper's political columnist. Since 1994 he has been a columnist for the Daily Mail and a prolific contributor to other newspapers and periodicals. He has written acclaimed lives of Thomas Carlyle and Enoch Powell, and is the author of Nor Shall My Sword: The Reinvention of England (1999). He is married with two sons and lives in Essex.

The story of our nation has been lit up, and at times shaped, by the words of countless patriots, sceptics, radicals, conservatives and polemicists. Elizabeth's speech to her troops at Tilbury in 1588, Wilberforce's vigorous denunciations of the slave trade in 1789 or Churchill's stirring wartime speeches are some of the most inspiring moments in British history. In Great British Speeches Simon Heffer has put together a richly eclectic selection of fifty memorable and influential speeches from every period of our history, from the medieval era to the present. From rallying-calls at times of national danger to expressions of moral outrage at the evils of war and slavery, and from passionate defences of principle to eloquent showpieces of the art of parliamentary debate. The oratorical skills of many of the greatest names and most influential figures in British history are on display here: Fox and Burke, Gladstone and Disraeli, Thatcher and Blair to name but a few. Great British Speeches is an enthusiastic celebration of the rich tradition of British oratory. Both inspiring and thought-provoking, it offers a unique and fascinating perspective on seven centuries of our nation's history.

50 speeches from every period of British history from the medieval era to the present and a fascinating dip-in history title that will both inspire readers and give them a greater understanding of British history. The speechmakers are: King Henry V; Queen Elizabeth I; King Charles I; Oliver Cromwell; Earl of Shelburne; Edmund Burke (3); Charles James Fox (2); William Pitt (2); Warren Hastings; William Wilberforce; R.B. Sheridan; Robert Peel; Charles Grey; Thomas Carlyle; Lord Palmerston; John Bright (2); Benjamin Disraeli; William Gladstone; James Campbell-Bannerman; F.E. Smith; David Lloyd George (2); Stanley Baldwin; King Edward VIII; King George VI; Winston Churchill (4); Aneurin Bevan; Harold Macmillan (2); Hugh Gaitskell (2); Nigel Birch; Harold Wilson; Enoch Powell (2); Michael Foot; Margaret Thatcher (2); Neil Kinnock; Geoffrey Howe; Charles Spencer; Tony Blair.

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