Words Like Loaded Pistols

In this history of rhetoric, Sam Leith traces the art of speaking persuasively from its beginnings in ancient Greece to its usage in the modern political arena. He discusses five parts and three branches of rhetoric and highlights “Champions of Rhetoric” such as Cicero and Abraham Lincoln.

Words Like Loaded Pistols opens with a Simpsons quote. It’s an appropriate move on Leith’s part, for the book, like that show, is irreverent, sarcastic, and ultimately quite insightful. Make no mistake about it: Leith knows his stuff. He adorns his prose with dollops of Greco-Roman terminology, and he is able to dissect famous speeches with nearly clinical precision. Moreover, he shows a keen understanding of the circumstances that created not only great speeches, but great speakers and, arguably, rhetoric itself.

But for all its sophistication, this is still a book aimed at a general audience, and its author is still a first-rate smart-ass. Leith makes copious use of footnotes, many of which are humorous (He can’t help but chuckle triumphantly, for instance, at a handbook on gestures). There are also numerous pop culture references, and, refreshingly for a book so rooted in classic tradition, relevance to the modern age. For instance, the “anti-rhetoric” embraced by Sarah Palin is contrasted with the unabashed championing of rhetoric by Barack Obama.

Erudite and eccentric, Words Like Loaded Pistols can be demanding at times. But it’s a must for anyone fascinated by the power of language.

8.75/10