Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations

by Antony Jay

Overview

The Fourth Edition boasts nearly 5,000 quotations--over 300 new to this volume. The additions reflect both key events of recent years and quotations from earlier periods that have lately come to light. The book showcases a who's who of politics, covering everyone from Napoleon to Barack Obama, plus such notables as Mahatma Gandhi, Sarah Palin, George Washington, Charles de Gaulle, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Antony Jay covers every facet of political life--the pivotal and momentous, the sincere, the bemused, the tongue-in-cheek. There are politicians' views on political events, on other politicians, and on economics, warfare, and the state of society. The book includes a keyword index and subject index to help you find the right quotation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199572687
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/05/2012
Series:	Oxford Quick Reference
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Antony Jay is a popular television writer and producer whose credits include the hugely successful comedies "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister."

Table of Contents

From Rhetoric to Soundbites by Matthew Parris
Introduction to Fourth Edition
Introduction to First Edition
How to Use the Dictionary
Quotations
Keyword Index
Selective Subject Index
UK General Election 2010

Editorial Reviews

Marshalled with wit and meticulous attribution of sources.

Guardian

Originally published in Great Britain and edited by British television writer and producer Jay, this book aims to present "a bank of political quotations which are part of the currency of political speeches and writings throughout the English-speaking world." Thus, the primary qualification for a quote's inclusion "was not its antiquity or profundity, but its familiarity." The coverage favors the British, but there is ample treatment of Americans as well as politicians from other countriesranging from Roman times to the present and even including popular figures such as Woody Allen and Joan Baez. Drawn from the Oxford database and supplemented with material from correspondence and the media, the 4000-plus quotations are arranged alphabetically by author, with cross references. This is the opposite of the subject arrangements of the two other major collections, Political Quotations (LJ 5/1/94) and the Macmillan Dictionary of Political Quotations (Macmillan, 1993). Macmillan includes twice as many quotations, but Oxford and Political Quotations have keyword indexes, and Oxford is somewhat more up to date. With its unique author arrangement, this is recommended as an affordable addition for medium to large libraries.Louise Ann Treff, Univ. of Colorado at Denver

Library Journal

Review from previous edition: "Excellent."—Daily Express Review from previous edition: "There is something on every page to make you sit up with interest, chuckle, or reconsider what you thought you knew."—Mail on Sunday

From the Publisher