Battle Cries Book

In the tense moments leading up to the heat of battle — whether it’s against a military foe or a whole society entrenched in prejudice — fighting men and women and their leaders utter words of raw but eloquent emotion. Ranging across the globe and through the centuries, Battle Cries places these speeches, war cries, dying words, poems, and marching songs in their political, military, and social context, while summarizing the lives and careers of remarkable orators and writers to give a broader understanding of their place in history.

Battle Cries contains historically significant speeches, including:

• Martin Luther King, “I have a dream”
• Elie Wiesel on the perils of indifference
• Adolf Hitler, “We are merely interested in safeguarding peace”
• Margaret Thatcher on the Falklands War
• Winston Churchill, “We shall never surrender”
• Rudy Giuliani, “Freedom from fear”
• Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
• Shirley Chisholm’s discrimination speech
• George W. Bush, “Axis of evil”