
Words Like Loaded Pistols
The Power of Rhetoric from the Iron Age to the Information Age
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $21.83
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Alan Medcroft
-
By:
-
Sam Leith
About this listen
“An entertaining history of great oratory” (New Yorker) and a primer to rhetoric’s key techniques
Rhetoric gives our words the power to inspire. But it’s not just for politicians: it’s all around us, whether you’re 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, don’t 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/DC’s “Back in Black.” Before you know it, you’ll be confident in chiasmus and proud of your panegyrics—because rhetoric is useful, relevant, and crucial to understanding the world around us.
©2023 Sam Leith (P)2023 Basic BooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
Hidden Potential
- The Science of Achieving Greater Things
- By: Adam Grant
- Narrated by: Adam Grant, Maurice Ashley, R. A. Dickey, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.
-
-
Nope
- By Anna OConnor-McClure on 10-27-23
By: Adam Grant
-
The Ellipsis Manual
- Analysis and Engineering of Human Behavior
- By: Chase Hughes
- Narrated by: Jonam Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Ellipsis Manual is the kind of book that used to be locked away deep in a vault underground, far away from the prying eyes of those who could misuse its power.
-
-
Don’t get AUDIO Book
- By Will on 09-18-24
By: Chase Hughes
-
The Elements of Rhetoric
- How to Write and Speak Clearly and Persuasively: A Guide for Students, Teachers, Politicians & Preachers
- By: Ryan N.S. Topping
- Narrated by: Connor Brannigan
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Elements of Rhetoric offers a concise, comprehensive course in the rules for making your point stick. With copious examples from such masters of language as Cicero, Augustine, Shakespeare, Erasmus, Lincoln, Dickens, Newman, Chesterton, and Lewis, you will discover the 26 rules of persuasion and learn to apply them.
-
-
A thinly veiled attempt
- By Anonymous User on 03-29-25
-
Verbal Judo, Updated Edition
- The Gentle Art of Persuasion
- By: George J. Thompson PhD, Jerry B. Jenkins, Lee Fjelstad - foreword, and others
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When you react, the event controls you. When you respond, you’re in control. Verbal Judo is the classic guide to the martial art of the mind and mouth that can help you defuse confrontations and generate cooperation, whether you're talking to a boss, a spouse, or even a teenager. For more than a generation, Dr. George J. Thompson's essential handbook has taught people how to communicate more confidently and persuasively in any situation.
-
-
Kept thinking it was already started
- By Kim Dushinski on 05-24-17
By: George J. Thompson PhD, and others
-
Rhetoric
- By: Aristotle
- Narrated by: Matthew Coles
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Aristotle's Rhetoric, the philosopher identifies rhetoric as one of the three key elements of philosophy, along with logic and dialectic. According to Aristotle, logic is concerned with reasoning to reach scientific certainty while dialectic and rhetoric - because they are concerned with probability - are the branches of philosophy best suited to human affairs. Rhetoric is a tool for practical debate, a means for persuading a general audience to resolve practical issues using probable knowledge.
-
-
Good
- By My name on 11-19-24
By: Aristotle
-
Chip War
- The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology
- By: Chris Miller
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything—from missiles to microwaves—runs on chips, including cars, smartphones, the stock market, even the electric grid. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower, but America’s edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by players in Taiwan, Korea, and Europe taking over manufacturing.
-
-
Great history, but could poor narration
- By Lily Wong on 10-26-22
By: Chris Miller
-
Hidden Potential
- The Science of Achieving Greater Things
- By: Adam Grant
- Narrated by: Adam Grant, Maurice Ashley, R. A. Dickey, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.
-
-
Nope
- By Anna OConnor-McClure on 10-27-23
By: Adam Grant
-
The Ellipsis Manual
- Analysis and Engineering of Human Behavior
- By: Chase Hughes
- Narrated by: Jonam Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Ellipsis Manual is the kind of book that used to be locked away deep in a vault underground, far away from the prying eyes of those who could misuse its power.
-
-
Don’t get AUDIO Book
- By Will on 09-18-24
By: Chase Hughes
-
The Elements of Rhetoric
- How to Write and Speak Clearly and Persuasively: A Guide for Students, Teachers, Politicians & Preachers
- By: Ryan N.S. Topping
- Narrated by: Connor Brannigan
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Elements of Rhetoric offers a concise, comprehensive course in the rules for making your point stick. With copious examples from such masters of language as Cicero, Augustine, Shakespeare, Erasmus, Lincoln, Dickens, Newman, Chesterton, and Lewis, you will discover the 26 rules of persuasion and learn to apply them.
-
-
A thinly veiled attempt
- By Anonymous User on 03-29-25
-
Verbal Judo, Updated Edition
- The Gentle Art of Persuasion
- By: George J. Thompson PhD, Jerry B. Jenkins, Lee Fjelstad - foreword, and others
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When you react, the event controls you. When you respond, you’re in control. Verbal Judo is the classic guide to the martial art of the mind and mouth that can help you defuse confrontations and generate cooperation, whether you're talking to a boss, a spouse, or even a teenager. For more than a generation, Dr. George J. Thompson's essential handbook has taught people how to communicate more confidently and persuasively in any situation.
-
-
Kept thinking it was already started
- By Kim Dushinski on 05-24-17
By: George J. Thompson PhD, and others
-
Rhetoric
- By: Aristotle
- Narrated by: Matthew Coles
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Aristotle's Rhetoric, the philosopher identifies rhetoric as one of the three key elements of philosophy, along with logic and dialectic. According to Aristotle, logic is concerned with reasoning to reach scientific certainty while dialectic and rhetoric - because they are concerned with probability - are the branches of philosophy best suited to human affairs. Rhetoric is a tool for practical debate, a means for persuading a general audience to resolve practical issues using probable knowledge.
-
-
Good
- By My name on 11-19-24
By: Aristotle
-
Chip War
- The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology
- By: Chris Miller
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything—from missiles to microwaves—runs on chips, including cars, smartphones, the stock market, even the electric grid. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower, but America’s edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by players in Taiwan, Korea, and Europe taking over manufacturing.
-
-
Great history, but could poor narration
- By Lily Wong on 10-26-22
By: Chris Miller
-
The Scarlet Letter
- By: Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Narrated by: Kate Petrie
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most important novels in classic literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter tackles the subject of adultery, with the notorious Hester Prynne at the forefront of the scandal in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In the beginning of the novel, Hester is serving time in prison for having a child out of wedlock and is forced to wear a scarlet A on her clothing at all times, so she cannot run from her sin no matter where she goes.
-
-
missing the introductory???
- By Savannah on 05-20-20
-
Think Faster, Talk Smarter
- How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot
- By: Matt Abrahams
- Narrated by: Matt Abrahams
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many of us dread having to convey our ideas to others, often feeling ill-equipped, anxious, and awkward. Public speaking experts help by focusing on planned communication experiences such as slide presentations, pitches, or formal talks. Yet, most of our professional and personal communication occurs in spontaneous situations that creep up on us and all too often leave us flustered and stumbling for words. Stanford lecturer, podcast host, and communication expert Matt Abrahams provides tangible, actionable skills to help even the most anxious of speakers succeed when speaking spontaneously.
-
-
It has improved a lot my communication skills
- By Anonymous User on 12-12-23
By: Matt Abrahams
-
Why Politics Fails
- By: Ben Ansell
- Narrated by: Ben Ansell
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why is it so hard to get—and keep—the world we want? Ben Ansell, one of the world’s leading experts on the dilemmas facing modern democracies, vividly illustrates how our collective goals—democracy, equality, solidarity, security, and prosperity—are undermined by political traps and why today’s political landscape is so tumultuous. We want equality, but we are loathe to give away our own wealth. We want solidarity but we are much better at receiving it than offering it. We want security but not if it constrains our freedom.
By: Ben Ansell
-
Win Every Argument
- The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking
- By: Mehdi Hasan
- Narrated by: Mehdi Hasan
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan isn’t one to avoid arguments. He relishes them as the lifeblood of democracy and the only surefire way to establish the truth. Arguments help us solve problems, uncover new ideas we might not have considered, and nudge our disagreements toward mutual understanding. A good argument, made in good faith, has intrinsic value—and can also simply be fun.
-
-
Would be much better without politics
- By David Fair on 03-17-23
By: Mehdi Hasan
-
Thank You for Arguing, Third Edition
- What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion
- By: Jay Heinrichs
- Narrated by: Jay Heinrichs
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The time-tested secrets taught in this book include Cicero's three-step strategy for moving an audience to action and Honest Abe's Shameless Trick for lowering an audience's expectations. And it's also replete with contemporary techniques such as politicians' use of code language to appeal to specific groups and an eye-opening assortment of persuasive tricks, including Stalin's Timing Secret and the Yoda Technique. Whether you're an inveterate lover of language books or just want to win a lot more anger-free arguments, this audiobook is for you.
-
-
I'm on my second "listening" of this one!
- By Maria on 05-26-18
By: Jay Heinrichs
-
TED Talks
- The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking
- By: Chris Anderson
- Narrated by: Chris Anderson, Tom Rielly, Kelly Stoetzel
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since taking over TED in the early 2000s, Chris Anderson has shown how carefully crafted short talks can be the key to unlocking empathy, stirring excitement, spreading knowledge, and promoting a shared dream. Done right, a talk can electrify a room and transform an audience's worldview. Done right, a talk is more powerful than anything in written form.
-
-
One of the VERY Best!
- By C. Freeman on 05-08-16
By: Chris Anderson
-
So Good They Call You a Fake
- Command Attention, Monetize Your Talent Stack, and Become the Uncontested Authority in Your Niche
- By: Joshua Lisec
- Narrated by: Dylan Reese Marshall
- Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They call you a fake because you’re the best. Being called a fake is the last rite of passage on the internet. In the relentless pursuit of excellence, you only know you’ve arrived when you have “haterz”—your most valuable marketers. So Good They Call You a Fake is how you get there. This book teaches step-by-step with no steps skipped how to get the visibility you’ve already earned, become an energy monster who thrives on all kinds of attention, and then monetize that attention to the max.
-
-
Eliminate BS while Elevating Your Game
- By DJ on 07-24-23
By: Joshua Lisec
-
When Race Trumps Merit
- How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives
- By: Heather Mac Donald
- Narrated by: Olivia Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Does your workplace have too few Black people in top jobs? It’s racist. Does the advanced math and science high school in your city have too many Asians? It’s racist. Does your local museum employ too many White women? It’s racist, too. After the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, prestigious American institutions, from the medical profession to the fine arts, pleaded guilty to “systemic racism”.
-
-
People need to read/listen to this book
- By Casey on 04-20-23
-
The Soul of America
- The Battle for Our Better Angels
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Jon Meacham
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature” have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and LBJ, and illuminating the courage of influential citizen activists and civil rights pioneers, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. Each of these dramatic hours have been shaped by the contest to lead the country to look forward rather than back.
-
-
Thanks! I needed this!
- By Kindle Customer on 05-29-18
By: Jon Meacham
-
Six-Minute X-Ray
- Rapid Behavior Profiling
- By: Chase Hughes
- Narrated by: Jonam Ross
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With skills specifically designed for intelligence operations, Chase Hughes releases yet another groundbreaking audiobook. In Six Minute X-Ray, you’ll learn the most powerful people-reading system in the world. Chase exposes and unpacks simple techniques that come together to allow you to see beyond the mask that anyone is wearing. In less than six minutes, you’ll know more about the hidden side of the person you’re speaking to than their own friends and family - no joke.
-
-
A great book, but not a great audio book
- By David T on 11-26-21
By: Chase Hughes
-
Get to the Point!
- Sharpen Your Message and Make Your Words Matter
- By: Joel Schwartzberg
- Narrated by: Jeff Hoyt
- Length: 1 hr and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Joel's Schwartzberg's 10-plus years as a strategic communications trainer, the biggest obstacle he's come across - one that connects directly to nervousness, stammering, rambling, and epic fail - is that most speakers and writers don't have a point. They typically have just a title, a theme, a topic, an idea, an assertion, a catchphrase, or even something much less. This book shows you how to identify your point, leverage it, stick to it, and sell it and how to train others to identify and successfully make their own points.
-
-
Made me a better communicator.
- By Mr. Davis on 08-15-20
-
Existential Physics
- A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
- By: Sabine Hossenfelder
- Narrated by: Gina Daniels
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Not only can we not currently explain the origin of the universe, it is questionable we will ever be able to explain it. The notion that there are universes within particles, or that particles are conscious, is ascientific, as is the hypothesis that our universe is a computer simulation. On the other hand, the idea that the universe itself is conscious is difficult to rule out entirely.
-
-
Unscientific and unengaging
- By Jase G on 03-29-23
Critic reviews
"Leith brings to life a forgotten but eternally essential subject.... Leith uses every tool in the rhetorician's arsenal to argue for rhetoric's continuing relevance.... Readers will gain a great deal of insight into how humans use communication to get what they want...the book fulfills Cicero's three objectives of rhetoric: 'to move, educate, and delight.'"—Kirkus Reviews
"Timed for a presidential election year, this sassy, smart book outlines and illustrates nearly every rhetorical trope and flourish related to the art of persuasion.... Leith can be fiendishly entertaining."—Publishers Weekly