It is a wonderful idea to make available recordings of great speeches. I hope we have more of this in the future.
In the case of older speeches, the selection is very good, considering the restraints of time, and the readers are uniformly excellent.
As for the modern speeches, it is a marvel of technology that we can hear these speeches as delivered. It is incredible that we can hear the voice of William Jennings Bryan. I can listen to Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" a thousand times and never tire of it! How I wish I could listen to the voice of Patrick Henry! But this selection is too heavily weighted to the modern, and many of those do not deserve billing as the GREATEST speeches of ALL TIME. Also, some of the modern speeches which are included are abridged, e.g. Reagan is cut off in the middle of a sentence, while lengthy and undeserving speeches are played out in their entirety.
Also, with only a few exceptions, the selection is almost entirely American. It is hard to understand why Jimmy Carter's lengthy speech on energy policy is included, while Pericles' funeral oration is not; or why only a small portion of a single Winston Churchill speech is included; why while Bill Clinton's complete 1993 pulpit address, in excess of 20 minutes, is included.
It would be helpful if the complete list of speeches were available to online buyers, as it would be to shoppers in a brick and mortar store.

I have listened to this collection twice now, both times with pleasure. Hearing the acutal voices of Amelia Earhart, Rev. Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill and Neil Armstrong made a deeper connection than simply reading their words. The collection showcases different subjects and many times contrasts opposing viewpoints of the ideas. This volume is a fantastic introduction to the moving ideals and sometimes sad truths that have influenced Western Civilization.

In the beginning of the war, Roosevelt sensed that Churchill even before he became Prime Minister would be important to the war effort. As time went on these men united by a fear of Hitler these men became friends as well as comrades in arms. This book explores there relationship though a rather unique perspective their intelligence departments. It explores how they got their intelligence and what they did with the knowledge that they gained from it. Despite their friendship the used it to advance the agenda of what they wanted for their own countries. At times their intelligence departments actually came into conflict as they both had different hopes and ambitions. As the war progressed these difference became more important.

I found the book very easy to read. Full of information that although I am a WW2 fanatic I have never seen before. I can recommend this book if you want to learn about the relationship of between these two men.

An enjoyable account of the circumstances that brought the two men together, and the relationship that they forged.

Often political friendships form out of necessity and mutual self interest. And that is obvious in this case.

But the fact that the two most remarkable and influential men (in a positive sense) were to forge such an important relationship makes for great reading.

David Woodman's research for this book is exciting to think about -- carefully turning the thousands of pages from journals written over a hundred years ago -- could he see the fear of frozen fingers (and more) in the marks of thick ink? Woodman's retelling of Sir Franklin's fascinating story is built upon an amazing act of pinning down the oral histories from another culture to the pages of ours. Above all, this book pays tribute to this wonderous art of the Inuit. And speaking of 'our' pages, my paper back edition has come unglued from its spine in just one month! Serious readers my wish to ante up for the hardcover.

Testimony from a number of contradictory sources over what happened to the ships and men; what they were told by ancestors of their beliefs of what may have happened to the men. Much debate over the names of men who were along on the trek. I found the degree of confusion and contradiction interesting in light of what is factually known of Franklin's travels to be very valuable in discounting what is "known" about his journey. While it resolves nothing for sure, it helps to explain why the degree of confusion among early searchers upon trying to get information from Inuits. For the true Franklin researcher, it is highly recommended.

Knowing only of the name "Marcus Garvey," I set about reading this book to get a better understanding of Garvey's beliefs and perceptions on race relations in the 1920's and 1930's. This book fit the billing, with an honest account of the victories, defeats, embarassments, and lasting effects of Marcus Garvey's legacy. Unforunately, Marcus Garvey was never spoken of in my high school or college history courses. This book provides a great starting point for understanding the conditions in 1920's America, which allowed Marcus Garvey to gather such a large and faithful following.

In June of 1757 Benjamin Franklin embarked for London to serve as a agent for the Pennsylvania Assembly, returning to Philadelphia in 1762. In November of 1763 he returned to England, again as Assembly agent. Over the next few years he is appointed agent for the colonies of Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, returning to the colonies in 1775. This book chronicles Franklin's years in London serving as colonial agent

For those people who thought Pearl Harbor brought us into the Second World War, Reynolds argues that FDR's actions were bringing us closer to an alliance with Churchill's Great Britain and Stalin's USSR. Pearl Harbor was the last action which convinced the American public that war was necessary. Before that, Reynolds argues that the isolationist mood in the U.S. was high and oppossed to more involvement in Europe. Roosevelt helped as much as possible through the destroyer deal and lend lease to help Great Britain and the USSR. If it hadn't been for Pearl Harbor, NAZI Germany may have overwhelmed the USSR and Great Britain. In this thesis, he also argues that signal intelligence was missed which resulted in Pearl Harbor, but there was no conspiracy.
Reynolds book is somewhat dry, but the details show how FDR worked to get us into the good war. He led the USA into public opinion about the reasons why the country should support the Soviet Union and Great Britain.

First and foremost an academic publication, MAKING THE LOCAL NEWS is now something of a definitive tome for all those involved in what Franklin describes as 'the original grass roots of the press'. Franklin and co have managed the unenviable task of writing a broad spectred account of this hugh area of modern journalism while giving the reader enough depth of perspective to make the whole process worthwhile. In short, it is macrocosm in microcosm; and easily the most quotable book available on this fascinating subject.

As with the vast majority, but not all, books that bite off huge taxonomic groups this one fails to provide detailed updated information on this group but does provide an overview and excellent illustrations. If you desire more than the basics purchase Johnsgard's books or some other title that limits its treatment. If its the basics that you desire its worth the money.

Franklin in Paris arranging for French help in the Revolution is an inherently fascinating topic. Davis Schoenbrun gave it a good thorough treatment. However, Schoenbrun is a plain writer, without any noticeable style, wit, insight. He does not manage to create any feeling of "triumph." Ths frustrations of his mission, however, are evident.

I could just ditto all the stuff that guy from New Mexico wrote. I had the same experience with trying to work out the problems at the end of the chapters. It's almost like we had the same class or something. Weird. Anyway there was some good stuff in the book, especially all those block diagrams. The authors are from the left coast, so if you are used to A,B,C, and D in your control block diagrams the F,G,H, and J could throw you off. Happy reading.

The problem with this book is it has a lot of content, tries to explain just about everything there is in controls and does not care to explain out the details ... its pretty tough if are do-it-yourself kind... But many of the things in this book are not in other books (or are better explained in advanced control books). It literally took out my interst in Controls. Certainly not a book for beginners.

The book is very good for individual study because of its step-by-step approach. However, it is difficult to use for classroom instruction. By teh way, there is an excellent Solutions Manual available from the publisher, which I would recommend for instructors.It uses MATLAB extensively. ISBN 0-201-59937-6,Addsion Wesley 1994.