Politics is an unpredictable field, and when the unexpected strikes, adjustments have to be made—which sometimes means tossing whatever speech was originally planned for that day into the trash bin. The context of a discarded speech, and why it was set aside in the first place, is at the heart of Undelivered: The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History. Written by professional speechwriter Jeff Nussbaum, Undelivered unearths more than a dozen planned speeches that would have radically altered the course of history. Whether they were reactive (such as Eisenhower’s apology for the failure of D-Day or Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential victory speech), or proactive (such as New York City Mayor Beame’s decision to declare bankruptcy in 1975, or Boston Mayor White’s refusal to continue busing a year earlier), each speech is evaluated based on the headspace of the politician and their speechwriters at the time, and the events that led them to put aside their planned remarks.

In a lot of ways, Undelivered is the best English lesson you never received in school. Nussbaum succinctly explains why certain speeches land and others don’t, with brief lessons on pathos/logos/ethos, the passive voice, dog whistles, and why apologies sometimes just make the audience angrier. (Not to mention the importance of soundbites, which are cleverly emphasized by the short excerpts from undelivered speeches at the beginning of each chapter). If there’s any drawback to this, it is only that the speechwriting lessons can at times distract from the speeches themselves.

Nussbaum does a fair job of avoiding modern politics, but there are a few unfortunate exceptions. He crams in an obligatory lecture on the evils of Donald Trump in the book’s conclusion (I’m guessing the publisher is to blame for this), and no one born after Kennedy’s assassination should still be showering the 35th president with so much uncritical praise. Nevertheless, Undelivered is a treasure trove of little-known documents and history lessons, and will prove a valuable resource for both readers and teachers (history and English) alike.

Great read and perfect gift for anyone who enjoys history and wants an inside look into the process of speechwriting and how the course of history can sometimes go either way. Highly recommend.

A fascinating book about the undelivered speeches by notable historical figures, many of which I did not know existed. In this book, I learned that Martin Luther King's 1963 March on Washington speech that everyone know as his "I Have A Dream" speech was originally titled "Normalcy, Never Again". I found Edward VIII's speech on not abdicating the throne one of most interesting chapters because it was a story I was unfamiliar with and his decision to stay on the throne may have had an impact on WWII. The appendix in the back of the book contains the full text of some of the speeches including Hillary Clinton's 2016 undelivered acceptance speech, which definitely deserves a look after you read the chapter about the speech.

Undelivered does not just cover the speeches that were never given but the author also gives tips on and behind the scenes look at how speeches are developed and written, and covers the rhetorical devices that are used (i.e. litany, refutation, dog whistles etc.). The book is a sly way to teach someone how to write a speech, especially for different scenarios/outcomes.

A book full of speeches that while written, went undelivered. This is always a popular kind of what-if game especially among armchair historians, and now you can read some of the more recent entries in the genre. The author's extensive context and analysis is generally too much and often dull, but I'm sure everyone knowns someone will will find this interesting.

Interesting background surrounding some of recent histories most important undelivered speeches. And the text that goes with them.