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A gripping account of how a few good men, without any inherited authority or military clout, laboured to reshape the political destiny of India under trying circumstances with a newfound art viz. oratory or public speaking. The public speakers were actually far removed from loquacious men. They were purposeful readers and serious thinkers who were on a mission to enfranchise their countrymen. Thus they emerged as the new icons of the era whom people loved and cheered. They made the audience feel empowered and responsible unlike ever before in Indian history. They were the first to espouse national interest and demand accountability from the government. Despite the fact that the British were irked with their empire of eloquence, and a section of Indians was doubtful of the effectiveness of speeches, they continued to gain traction with the masses.

Coeval with print journalism, but more directly concerned with politics, public speaking emerged as a limb of mass communication in India in the nineteenth century. No national leader was able to ignore the power of speech. A crop of quality speeches emerged during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century period. This book is the first attempt to reckon with that genesis and development of oratory in India. It promises to reconnect us with the foundational legacy of modern India, which transformed us from subjects into citizens.