Book description
"[In] this slim but powerful book . . . Younge is adept at both distilling the facts and asking blunt questions."-Boston Globe
"Unequivocal."-Financial Times
"Gary Younge's meditative retrospection on [the speech's] significance reminds us of all the micro-moments of transformation behind the scenes-the thought and preparation, vision and revision-whose currency…
Why read it?
1 author picked The Speech as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, leader of the American Civil Rights movement, addressed the 250,000-strong crowd that had gathered in Washington DC to support the civil and economic rights of African Americans. As ever, his speech was good, but at a crucial point, prompted by the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, he put aside his written notes and stated: “I have a dream.” And so followed the famous words of perhaps the most famous speech in history, a speech that transformed the civil rights movement and led to major civil rights and voting reforms in the next two years.…
From Simon's list on major events that changed the 20th century.
If you love The Speech...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
Want books like The Speech?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Speech.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,278
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like The Speech, you might also like...
The Bridge
The Bridge provides a compassionate and well researched window into the worlds of linear and circular thinking. A core pattern to the inner workings of these two thinking styles is revealed, and most importantly, insight into how to cross the distance between them. Some fascinating features emerged such as, circular…
And Then They Were Gone
Of the 918 Americans who died in the shocking murder-suicides of November 18, 1978, in the tiny South American country of Guyana, a third were under eighteen. More than half were in their twenties or younger.
The authors taught in a small high school in San Francisco where Reverend Jim…
