Words like loaded pistols: the power of rhetoric from the iron age to the information age - sam leith

An entertaining history of great oratory ( New Yorker ) and a primer to rhetorics key techniques Rhetoric gives our words the power to inspire.

But its not just for politicians: its all around us, whether youre buttering up a key client or persuading your children to eat their vegetables.

You have been using rhetoric yourself, all your life.

After all, you know what a rhetorical question is, dont you? In Words Like Loaded Pistols , Sam Leith traces the art of argument from ancient Greece through the present day.

He introduces verbal villains from Hitler to Donald Trump--and the three musketeers: ethos, pathos, and logos.

He explains how rhetoric works in speeches from Cicero to Zelensky and pays tribute to the rhetorical brilliance of AC/DCs Back in Black.

Before you know it, youll be confident in chiasmus and proud of your panegyrics--because rhetoric is useful, relevant, and crucial to understanding the world around us.