Thomas Paine : Collected Writings : Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters (Library of America)

Thomas Paine : Collected Writings : Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters (Library of America)
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What a useful collection.

We have it in our power to begin the world over again

Teach Thomas Paine to all Ages

Most Important Founding Father - outstanding one-volume edition of his writings!

Timeless inspiration

Thomas Paine : Collected Writings : Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters (Library of America)
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Thomas Paine and the Promise of America

Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations

ASIN: 1883011035

Book Description

Paine was the impassioned democratic voice of the Age of Revolution, and this volume brings together his best-known works--"Common Sense," "The American Crisis," "Rights of Man," "The Age of Reason," along with a selection of letters, articles and pamphlets that emphasizes Paine's American years.

Customer Reviews:

What a useful collection........2007-07-10

It's good to have all Paine's material in one handy volume. Plenty to read and think about. It's a pity he's not better known in the USA, considering his significance in the existence of the country.

We have it in our power to begin the world over again.......2007-07-06

This was a required reading for a graduate humanities class. John Keane's biography succinctly showed that Tom Paine (1737-1809) was the consummate revolutionary and a daring adventurer. Not only was he an important figure in the American Revolution, but he also traveled to France in 1791 to give that revolution a push. Paine traveled from England, just in time to stoke the flames of the revolution with his pamphlet Common Sense, in January 1776. To call Common Sense a sensation in the colonies is actually a bit of an understatement. It was an unparallel sensation and monumental work of Enlightenment rhetoric that quickly fanned the flames of rebellion throughout the colonies. In four months, over 120,000 copies were printed in the colonies--over 500,000 copies by years end. No other pamphlet printed in seventeenth century America came close to its success. Most importantly, Common Sense served to get the colonial patriots to drop their fear of open rebellion, and also emboldened those delegates who favored declaring independence from Britain. The delegates now had the confidence that a large segment of the colonists would support rebellion. Similar to the Declaration of Independence, the philosophical ideas in Common Sense are primarily from the English philosopher, John Locke (1632-1704). The most moving quote from the pamphlet became quite prophetic, when one considers the impact it ultimately had on the delegates in the congress, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, and on the world. "We have it in our power to begin the world over again."

As a graduate student in philosophy and history, I heartily recommend this timeless classic to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history.

Teach Thomas Paine to all Ages.......2006-12-03

Paine truly is the forgotten founding father. Unbelievably, I never learned about him till college--and only then through specific history classes. In addition to this volume, I suggest one of my recent discoveries: The Elementary Common Sense of Thomas Paine; the 1776 document Common Sense adapted and illustrated for ages 11 on up. It is here on Amazon. Paine, and all of our country's founding documents, should be taught to kids early on.

Most Important Founding Father - outstanding one-volume edition of his writings!.......2006-07-22

Thomas Paine was the most consistent and important of all the American Founding Fathers. He consistently spoke up in favor of liberty and freedom; for example, his opposition to the institution of slavery (which he argued was immoral and un-Christian and thought it quite contradictory to claim to be a Christian on the one hand and support slavery on the other hand) - Paine also spoke up in support of women's rights, freedom of thought, the poor, etc.

The important thing about Paine is that he practiced what he preached, as opposed to just about every other founding father (e.g., Jefferson saying all are "created equal" but owning slaves, or Adams "dismissing" his wife's assertion that they too should be included in the political process). I don't think we ought to condemn those individuals for the beliefs that they had, indeed they were products of their time period - and they are worthy of study. However, I also believe that we should praise those who were able to step out of that period and see things as they are, this is what Paine was able to do.

If you doubt Paine's importance in the history of American independence, consider the following; probably no other phamphlet brought the idea of independence to the mind of the colonists like Paine's "Common Sense" did and it was Paine's "Crisis #1" that was read to Washington's soldiers before they prepared for the biggest fight of the American Revolution. Paine's defense of the French Revolution in his "Rights of Man" sparked off a publication war that has yet to be matched and his "The Age of Reason" delineated the philosophical ideas that most of the founding fathers had with regard to religion (regardless of what the religious right would have you to believe).

Paine's mistake was not believing what most of the founding fathers believed, that the "common man and woman" was not intellectual enough to handle the arguments that he (and the others) were advocating. It was his consistency which brought about his downfall - this is a shame, because he is one of the most important thinkers to come out of the Revolutionary Period in American history.

Timeless inspiration.......2006-07-08

Thomas Paine, especially in The Age of Reason, did not put forth completely original ideas. Many of his contemporaries had the same critisms that Paine did in regard to organized religion especially Christianity. However, Thomas Paine organized such thoughts in a way that they were accessible to common men. Unfortunately his brave and inspirational work was his downfall. Closeminded and fearful citizens, like RICKITHEREADER in our modern times were frightened that perhaps Paine was tearing a hole the the fabric of their blind faith and because of this, Paines' last work, The Age of Reason, left him to die alone and impoverished. He was abandoned, even by his intellectual contemporaries, most who agreed with him but were not brave enough to voice their beliefs in the common vernacular. I was inspired by Paine who wrote, "My mind is my own church," which was not the voice of an atheist but the voice of a man who really did know the "truth" and his true path. Unlike RickitheReader, I have read both the bible and Paine with an open mind and heart. The joy of reading is the ability to let it lead you to new places. Thomas Paine would have said it better. Read this compilation and it will lead you to new places, wherever your faith is.

Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine (Signet Classics)

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Forgotten Founding Father
Essential Reading Fo Every American
Must-read for anyone seriously interested in American history
Enlightening, Revolutionary, and Worth a Read
In simplest terms and lack of a better title: Common Sense

Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine (Signet Classics)
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451528891
Release Date: 2003-07-01

Customer Reviews:

Forgotten Founding Father .......2007-04-16

Thomas Paine is not as heralded as the rest of the Founding Fathers. This is most likely due to his not holding any political office, and largely due to his heterodox views on religion. But more about the that later.

I was quiet impressed with Paine's "Golden Voice" for the Revolution. He had a talent, and even a genius, for persuasive essaymanship. John Adams wrote, "Without the pen of Thomas Paine, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain."

This is a book of selections, and as C. S. Lewis observed, "The only use of selections is to deter those readers who will never appreciate the original, and thus save them from wasting their time on it, and to send all the others on the original as quickly as possible." (The Quotable Lewis, #447)

For a complete compilation, buy Thomas Paine : Collected Writings : Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters (Library of America).

Here is the breakdown of this book's contents:

"Common Sense" (complete): Plain and simple, this should be required reading for every high school student--or even earlier. We cannot underestimate the connection between this pamphlet, Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech, and the decision to go ahead with the Declaration of Independence. In fact, the order, logic, and evidence that Paine used in this pamphlet was reused by Jefferson in the Declaration.

"The Crisis" (selections): These essays are a combination of motivational speeches and silver-tongued ridicule--a cross between Tokyo Rose and Rush Limbaugh.

"Rights of Man" (complete, both parts):

Coming in two part, this book could also be divided along the lines of it's contents: One half is a rambly screed against Edmund Burk's Reflections on the Revolution in France (Oxford World's Classics), the other half is rather snazzy political theory. For example, his distinction between natural and civil rights is a gem.

Age of Reason (selections of part 1): This is the book that really undid Paine and brought about the famous doggerel: "Here lies Tom Paine, who wrote in liberty's defense / And in his `Age of Reason' lost his `Common Sense.'" Like Nietzsche, Paine had a talent for sarcasm which overshadowed his evidence. Think of How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter.

Though critical of religion, the book did leave it's mark: Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism (The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ or Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith's Teachings), was well-schooled in this book. His mother recorded that Smith's paternal grandfather got into a heated discussion with his father, and threw a copy of the book and told Smith's father to read it until he believed it History of Joseph Smith by His Mother: Revised and Enhanced. BYU scholar Joseph Fielding McConkie, a great-great grandnephew of Joseph Smith, was also favorable to certain aspects of the book "Seeking the spirit."

Really, this book is nothing new, if one is familiar with Bertrand Russell's or Carl Sagan's critiques, or spend any time reading anti-Christian blogs. A Christian response would be either Mere Christianity or More Than a Carpenter.

When he presented the manuscript to Benjamin Franklin, the sage replied, "At present I shall only give you my opinion, that, though your reasonings are subtle and may prevail with some readers, you will not succeed so as to change the general sentiments of mankind on that subject, and the consequence of printing this piece will be, a great deal of odium drawn upon yourself, mischief to you, and no benefit to others. He that spits against the wind, spits in his own face."

His parting paragraph is a mixture of wit, wisdom, and prophecy:

"I would advise you, therefore, not to attempt unchaining the tiger, but to burn this piece before it is seen by any other person; whereby you will save yourself a great deal of mortification by the enemies it may raise against you, and perhaps a good deal of regret and repentance. If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it."

So take it for what it is. Whatever your view of organized religion may be, this book should round out your thinking.

Agrarian Justice (selections): This is Paine's plan for redistributing income to equalize living conditions. The intent of economic equality is in accord with Paine's big heart. But for the man who said, "Government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one," it is beyond strange that he would advocate such intrusiveness. Why would he want to create a nation-wide welfare system, which would of necessity, empower that "necessary evil." Maybe he did loose his common sense in his age of reason.

As I mentioned earlier, Paine is not as well known as the other founders, partly due to "Age of Reason." Additionally there is a shallowness to Paine's prose. At times he is an avid marksman for political theory, as in parts of "Common Sense" and "Rights of Man," at other times he merely strings together platitudes, invective, cracker-barrel wisdom, and off-hand sarcasm. There is no analytical depth as we get with Aristotle, Ayn Rand, C. S. Lewis, or the Thomases (Sowell and Aquinas). So I felt like I was drinking skim milk, as opposed to chocolate cream. His essays are persuasive, but not as intellectually satisfying as they could be. His talent, then, comes from an instinct for properly applying his talent for surface-level discussion. Today, he would be an NPR talking head.

Essential Reading Fo Every American.......2007-01-24

The ideas in these collections not only apply when the Founding FATHERS came together and brought together our aweseome country, but they apply to the present more than ever. The responsibilities of the people have been forgotten, it is now blasphemy to denounce or question the government. Nothing will change until the ideas in this collection are brought back into the American people's day to day life.

Must-read for anyone seriously interested in American history.......2007-01-22

This is what we're founded on, what America is supposed to be, and the way we should conduct our political affairs. Paine should probably be required reading for every citizen, every student, anyone wondering what freedom really means. Besides being informative, it is incisive, sarcastic, humorous, and passionate. The English is old and dated, but that just adds to its delight. I read this in short segments and then thought about each chapter. It made me proud to be an American and sad to realize how much freedom we've lost since Paine's day.

Enlightening, Revolutionary, and Worth a Read.......2006-11-14

In an unrelenting quest to understanding the history of the United States, one obscure name comes to mind, Thomas Paine. Paine helped establish the meaning of democracy and the "united" in United States. His two monumental works, COMMON SENSE AND RIGHTS OF MAN, provided the philosophical and rhetorical building blocks that the founding fathers, such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, et al., would emulate with the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Many take for granted the origins of freedom and democracy in the United States, and as with many school history textbooks depict, Paine merely appears in a paragraph or two, and quickly disappears to historical oblivion.

Nevertheless, when one reads COMMON SENSE AND RIGHTS OF MAN: AND OTHER ESSENTIAL WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE, there will be no doubt how significant his philosophical and political writings transformed the political structure of the colonies. Although this may sound somewhat romanticized, Paine's words ignited the energy for the colonists to free themselves from the tyrannical-monarchical leadership of England's King George III. With all the talk of Paine being a founding father, he may also be considered the father of revolution, American Revolution and French Revolution, and human rights. Without the inspiration from his friend Edmund Burke, author of REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE, Paine may not have been able to write the pamphlet Rights of Man. Indeed, his power of the written word translated to revolutionary action, and Jeffersonian ideology.

In clear and no nonsense language, Paine's perspective of the state of the colonies are elaborately told in COMMON SENSE. He adamantly shows his opposition toward hereditary rule and limitations imposed on individuals by George III and his vehement disdain towards aristocrats and kings. For RIGHTS OF MAN, he proposed possible solutions toward poverty, and created a blueprint towards achieving social and political institutions through his written abstracts. The other essential writings include the pamphlets, THE CRISIS, part one of THE AGE OF REASON, and selections of AGRARIAN JUSTICE. These writings gives readers an idea the political and religious atmosphere in which Paine lived, and how "breaking ties" with the so-called "motherland" was necessary towards forging a free nation.

COMMON SENSE AND RIGHTS OF MAN is indeed accessible with its pocketbook size form. After reading the book, readers may have a better understanding of what takes to build a nation. Paine's words are lessons of history and humanity, and is definitely recommendable reading.

In simplest terms and lack of a better title: Common Sense.......2006-10-25

Thomas Paine is one of those great philosophers who have a satiric spirit. Why not? He is from an age of great wits/philosophers - Voltaire, Rousseau. The most obvious reason for his greatness lies herein and it is because his reasoning and ideas are so obvious; that is his greatness. He says what is already in the minds of many and with a wit which gives the ideas strength. When I think of Thomas Paine, I think of Common Sense, the 1776 pamphlet and the spirit of reason over superstitious hypocrisy. I rank Paine with Tolstoy; I revere Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations

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The Forgotten Founding Father
author twists Paine's thought to fit his own silly political biases
Soul of a Revolution(ary)
A great book
The Founder Most of Us Never Knew!

Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations
Craig Nelson
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Thomas Paine : Collected Writings : Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters (Library of America)
Thomas Paine and the Promise of America
Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different
George Mason, Forgotten Founder
Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution

ASIN: 0670037885

Book Description

Despite being a founder of both the United States and the French Republic, the creator of the phrase Â“United States of America,Â” and the author of three of the biggest bestsellers of the eighteenth century, Thomas Paine is perhaps the least well known Â- and the most controversial Â- of the American founding fathers. Unlike such friends and allies as Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, and John Adams, the worldÂ's first crusader for the public good has always remained a somewhat indistinct figure. How this lower- class British tradesman managed not only to have written the cornerstone of American democracy, Common Sense, but become a revered citizen of the world are questions that have challenged historians for centuries, and have more often than not left us with biographies that are more monumental than illuminating.

In Craig NelsonÂ's Thomas Paine we now have a rich and vivid portrait that does justice to this towering figure of our history, one that brings him to life against the dramatic backdrop of the Revolutionary era and the heady intellectual exhilaration of the Age of Enlightenment. Nelson traces PaineÂ's path from his years as a struggling London mechanic to his journey to seek his fortune in the New World (in which he arrived on a stretcher, after a nearly deadly bout of shipboard typhus); from his early career as a crusading pamphleteer to his emergence as the heroic voice of revolutionary fervor on two continents; from his miraculous escape from execution in Paris during The Terror to his final years in America, where the once-lionized patriot spent his final days nearly impoverished and in the throes of dementia. Throughout his insightful portrait Nelson takes full account of this paradoxical figure, whom some contemporaries judged as brilliant and charismatic and others disparaged as abrasive and egotistical, a cherished patriot who was nonetheless dismissed by John Adams as a Â“disastrous meteorÂ” and Teddy Roosevelt as a Â“dirty little atheist.Â”

Five years in the making, drawing on both the most recent scholarship and the archives of Philadelphia, Washington, New York, Paris, London, Lewes, and Thetford, Thomas Paine restores this often misunderstood man to the stature that he deserves, and reveals him, a man who famously asserted that Â“we have it in our power to begin the world over again,Â” to be as much a man of our own time as a paragon of the Enlightenment. BACKCOVER: Â“Thomas Paine has had many biographers, but this is the first book to recover him in his own electrical style. Nelson's account brings Paine to life with all the flaws and foibles flaming away amidst the greatness. The story is poignant and the prose is incandescent.Â”
Â—Joseph J. Ellis, author, most recently, of His Excellency: George Washington

Customer Reviews:

The Forgotten Founding Father.......2007-05-25

Nelson does a thorough job in exploring Mr. Paine's life. Of interesting note is that the pace of the book seems to mimic the waxing and waning of Mr. Paine's alleged mental illness and bouts with alcohol....as do Mr. Paine's writings. No doubt Thomas Paine's inability to sustain consistent relationships had something to do with his personality and mental illness. One of the few criticisms of the book I have is Nelson's jumping back and forth in the time period without putting in the occasional date as a point of reference. I also wished he had explored the contentious relationsip between Gouverneur Morris and Paine a little more thoroughly. Overall the book is a good read. Not only does it give the reader a better view of this important figure in American History it also provides a glimpse into the difficult lives of people during that period in regards to living wages, debt, and travel.

author twists Paine's thought to fit his own silly political biases .......2007-05-24

Why is it that biographers cannot simply stick to the facts and dispense with attempting to tie all historical "heros" to their own modern political beliefs. This is a classic example of that exercise.

Most of this book is a fairly interesting and well written biography of Tom Paine. However, you will need to ignore the occasional short comments foreshadowing the completely nonsensical concluding chapter making Paine out the first coming of the modern day liberal. I strongly recommend skipping the last chapter where the author concludes that Paine shared the author's dizzy loony left-wing opinions.

Anyone with even a slight grasp of historical reality would recognize the idiocy of the contention that good ole Tom Paine was a politically correct left wing simpleton leading the way to the current day empty-headed liberalism of Rosie O'Donnell, author Craig Nelson and other left wing pinheads.

The Keane biography is more comprehensive, not as well written, but you don't have to suffer through a series of conclusions about how "modern day" liberal - as opposed to "classical" liberal (boy is there a difference) Paine actually was. Paine would be disgusted at what passes for liberalism in this day and age. And quite frankly equally disgusted with modern conservatism for that matter.

Nelson's is only the latest in the twisted search to prove that Paine was a basically a modern day liberal. Not surprisingly Eric Foner's abominable biography of Paine is even worse.

Skip this idiotic exercise in historical fantasy. I was fooled into buying this nonsense from a positive review in a libertarian publication. I suspect or at least hope that the reviewer did not read the last chapter in this travesty when he (or she, I forget which) recommended it.

Soul of a Revolution(ary).......2007-05-19

This brillant biography of one of our country's mostly forgotten Founding Fathers is an absolute must for anyone who wants to understand where America came from (and how it has gone astray).

Better than than McCollough's bio of John Adam's, this book really gives the reader the experience of the dichotomy that existed at this country's founding (and where the Federalists drove us off the path of real individual freedom.)

A great book.......2007-05-13

I hadn't read much by or about Payne before reading this book. This book shows the importance of Payne and other enlightenment thinkers to the American and French revolutions. While Payne would eventually be denounced as too radical he was always true to his enlightenment principles.This book really showed how the emerging middle class bought into the era's "enlightenment" ideals and the effect that had in America and France.Great book!!

The Founder Most of Us Never Knew!.......2007-05-06

To parahphrase the Rod Stewart song, some guys - some founders - have all the luck. Today, bookstore history sections are littered with biographies of Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton; even the long neglected Adams and Franklin have experienced their just resurgence. Yet, there have been precious few biographies (or even books with large portions devoted to) Thomas Paine, one of history's great provocateurs and a prime mover of both the American and French Revolutions. Craig Nelson, though, has written a very throrough, gripping work that will hopefully restore Paine to the eminence that he knew during his lifetime.

Wait! Did I just say, "the eminence he knew during his lifetime"? Most of us, after all, were taught that Paine was a man who America (and everyone else) had a love/hate relationship - a lower-caste rabble rouser that was, at most, pretty well liked in his early years, and violently dismissed in his later years.

This latter part - this dismissal of Paine in his later years - is true by Nelson's book. But Nelson is concerned to highlight the fact that not only was Paine liked during his heydays in America, Britian, and France, but he was truly adored. Every single pamphlet he wrote - American Crises, Common Sense, Rights of Man (first and second), and Age of Reason - was more cherished than, and outsold, the previous.

If anyone disliked Paine, it was the upper caste of society. Paine, after all, wrote works that unapologetically spoke in the common language of common folk and appealed as much to their sypahties as any other. Nelson is quick to tell us that while all of Paine's books were "best-sellers" (selling 10 times what even the best best-sellers sold), Paine's importance may have been downplayed in history most likely due to the fact that it was the lower classes, not the elite, that loved him most. The latter group, after all, wrote most of the history.

But Nelson also tells us that while Paine was adored in the lower ehelons of society, he was still well liked by most of the founders. Nelson gives us many glimpses of adoring letters sent to Paine by Washington, Jefferson, Govournor Morris, and - yes - even John Adams. Paine was offered government office more than once and was even offered to be a paid propogandist for the American and French governments (he declined). When in France, he was a legislator. Far from a man who was mildly liked!

Of course, Nelson also notes Paine's faults. He often came off, in an age of manners, as coarse and uncouth. He was less skilled at making friends and keeping them than were his counterparts like Jefferson and Franklin. Nelson even speculates that Paine was manic depressive, owing to his oscillating history of fits and starts: prodigous output and grand ambitions would be followd by self-deprecation - sparkling polemics followed by unexplained vitriolic jabs.

From Paine's role as a prime mover of the American revolution, to his invention of a bridge in Britian, to his near death imprisonment in France, Craig Nelson has given us an exciting book on an exciting life. Thomas Paine, quite literally, is the founder that most of us never knew but that all of us should get to know.

Average customer rating:

The Hobo Philosopher
We have it in our power to begin the world over again
200 years ago I would have given it a 5/5, Today it gets a 3
Have Not Read It Yet? Be Ashamed!
So You Wanna Start a Revolution?

Common Sense (Little Books of Wisdom)
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Applewood Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1557094586

Amazon.com

"These are the times that try men's souls," begins Thomas Paine's first Crisis paper, the impassioned pamphlet that helped ignite the American Revolution. Published in Philadelphia in January of 1776, Common Sense sold 150,000 copies almost immediately. A powerful piece of propaganda, it attacked the idea of a hereditary monarchy, dismissed the chance for reconciliation with England, and outlined the economic benefits of independence while espousing equality of rights among citizens. Paine fanned a flame that was already burning, but many historians argue that his work unified dissenting voices and persuaded patriots that the American Revolution was not only necessary, but an epochal step in world history.

Book Description

Thomas Paine arrived in America from England in 1774. A friend of Ben Franklin, he was a writer of poetry and tracts condemning the slave trade. In 1775, as hostilities between Britain and the colonies intensified, Paine wrote "Common Sense" to encourage the colonies to break the British exploitative hold through independence. The little booklet of 50 pages was published January 10, 1776 and sold a half-million copies, approximately equal to 75 million copies today.

Download Description

Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.

Customer Reviews:

The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-19

Until I actually sat down and read Common Sense, I had no idea how incendiary these writings were. No wonder the King wanted Tom Paine's head on a platter. Boy, it is lucky for Tommy that the colonists won that mess because his butt would have been in the dumpster. And his criticisms of the British generals and their battle plans are hilarious.
Old Tom and all his Tom Foolery was really something. He had the gonads all right. Talk about a guy looking for a fight! This was the street talk of the day let me tell you.
This was the man behind and truly responsible for the American Revolution - make no mistake this man is the culprit.

We have it in our power to begin the world over again.......2007-07-06

200 years ago I would have given it a 5/5, Today it gets a 3.......2006-12-04

After reading this one may think to them self that Thomas Paine does not get enough credit for motivating the masses to seek independence from British rule. He indeed had a significant part in the birth of the United States. With 64 pages of editor's introduction and commentary it still poses a challenge to those whom aren't familiar with the style and manner of old English dialect in which he speaks through his words. The subjects of conversation are: Origin of government in general, monarchy and hereditary succession and the time for the colonials to come together and unite. Much of this was motivated by new taxes imposed by the British at the time, that is basically how this all started, the greedy British wanted more control.

There are many things which are certain, he was indeed a theist. He was apposed to the way in which royalty obtain power and control, and how system of government can be based of such scandalous perversions of such ponderous propaganda. There are significant chucks of the book addressing the important observation of recognizing how such powers come to be. A good and almost perfect example of this was portrayed through the explanative dialogue of a famous and most humorous film entitled "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." The scene which tackles the absurdity of man bequeathed with eternal blessing to rule over all others as king shows us that such a system is nothing more than barbaric oppression and cruelty upon the common man, the people. In simple synapse: "Why should I be held on a pedestal above all others, especially you?"

The dialogue goes as fallows:

[...]

King Arthur: Old woman.
Dennis: Man.
King Arthur: Man, sorry. What knight lives in that castle over there?
Dennis: I'm 37.
King Arthur: What?
Dennis: I'm 37. I'm not old.
King Arthur: Well I can't just call you "man".
Dennis: Well you could say "Dennis".
King Arthur: I didn't know you were called Dennis.
Dennis: Well you didn't bother to find out did you?
King Arthur: I did say sorry about the "old woman", but from behind you looked...
Dennis: What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior.
King Arthur: Well I am king.
Dennis: Oh, king eh? Very nice. And how'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society.

King Arthur: I am your king.
Woman: Well I didn't vote for you.
King Arthur: You don't vote for kings.
Woman: Well how'd you become king then?
[Angelic music plays... ]
King Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king.
Dennis: [interrupting] Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

Dennis: Oh, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you.

Dennis: Oh but if I went `round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away.

(King Arthur begins to hit Dennis.)

Dennis: Come and see the violence inherent in the system. Help! Help! I'm being repressed!
King Arthur: Bloody peasant!
Dennis: Oh, what a giveaway! Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That's what I'm on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw him, Didn't you?

This is an obvious example, and not so far from the truth. How did kings gain power in history? Not by going hut to hut asking for votes or support; but by inflicting religion as a tool to claim enchanted power above all else. Using power and force, kings brutally acted as pimped out gangsters of the past, stealing land, burning villages and scaring the masses into repression. Collecting taxes as a form of appraisal for false protection they were able to build armies to rein their power against other kingdoms in an endless pursuit to concur the world, the world in which they claim god gave to them to rule upon.

Simple put I use this example; Imagine I hire 2 guys to steal stuff from your home while your gone, and if someone is there, I tell them to beat anyone up and rape them at will. I later go to your house after all this and pretend I'm in shock at your poor luck. I offer my protection, my service of security and If lets say if you happen to be on land that I was occupying or land I had stolen from someone else, I then charge you a wage, a tax to pay for future protection.

This example shows the false image Kings had put over "their" people in the past, as if they were cattle for the grazing. Mind you not all kings were so evil; they did claim power over all other man... Some even use to call it "Manifest Destiny."

Have Not Read It Yet? Be Ashamed!.......2006-12-01

Thomas Paine's Common Sense was the first "best-seller" on this side of the ocean. More importantly, it captured the mind and spirit of the Revolution in a brief, readable format. Common Sense is not so much a book as it is a great essay that you wish would not end. Knowing his audience well, Paine traces the origins of monarchy to Saul (not exactly God's choice for the children of Israel) and, for Britains, William the Conqueror ("a French Bastard" with "armed banditti"). With wit and sarcasm, he destroys the argument that anarchy is the only alternative to monarchy, blasts the notion that the moral development of a nation is dependent upon the presence of a king and humiliates colonists who cling to poor parent (England). Paine's approach to politics is entirely American and it is easy to see why George Washington called Common Sense his favorite book.

So You Wanna Start a Revolution?.......2006-08-22

Common Sense is a must read for all citizens of the USA and world seeking liberation from long established regimes. In this short, but well written published pre-revolutionary work, Paine makes the argument for a complete separation from England.

In a time when many were not sure separation was the correct option, Thomas Paine spells out 100 % revolution in clear English that provided the spark for the Declaration of Independence. It was the straw that broke the camel's back and there would be no turning back. A true piece of fine USA history.

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Still Applicable Today
Not a MT. Rushmore Figure Head
The Hobo Philosopher
Blows Christanity away
But 1 star for this misprint-riddled version from Cosimo

The Age Of Reason
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Citadel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0806505494
Release Date: 1988-01-01

Book Description

Thomas Paine was a brilliant man who played a vital role in the American Revolution of 1776. This was the last book he wrote, which centers almost entirely around Christianity. To Paine, it made sense to question everything in order to make valid answers possible. He puts forth many questions in this book regarding Christianity, confronting many beliefs with pure and rational reason.

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THESE books, beginning with Genesis and ending with Revelations, (which, by the bye, is a book of riddles that requires a revelation to explain it) are, we are told, the word of God. It is, therefore, proper for us to know who told us so, that we may know what credit to give to the report. The answer to this question is, that nobody can tell, except that we tell one another so.

Customer Reviews:

Still Applicable Today.......2007-10-06

The thoughtful reader will enjoy this classic. In spite of its' age, and the obviously dated observations, "The Age of Reason" is completely viable in our highly over-rated 21st century and should be a required read for every American.

Not a MT. Rushmore Figure Head.......2007-09-09

You won't see Thomas Paine's face added to Mt Rushmore. Although he played a great role part in the founding of this nation and its principles of government, some give him credit for writing a huge part of the Declaration of Independence and his genius in writing is readily displayed, he just wasn't politically correct enough for the role of a "Founding Father".
In writing the Age of Reason, he sat down while waiting impending fall of the guillotines blade and dashed off a few thoughts on religion as he saw it being used for profit, power and political gain by exploiting humanity for decades. He believed in God, but not the mythologies created by man. I would also recommend The Faiths of the Founding Fathers, by David L. Holmes if you're interested as to why deism was so popular at the time.

The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-06

With the current controversies with regards to religion, the Bible and Christianity, I am at a loss to understand why "The Age Of Reason" by Tom Paine is not a million seller. I have found that although many people, famous and otherwise, often quote or paraphrase Tom Paine, few have actually taken the time to read what he had to say.
Whether you are a defender of established religion or a detractor, you should read "The Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine. If you are a defender of the Bible or any religion other than Deism then you are going to have a challenge defending your views against the logic contained in this book. If you think that you know the "truth" then you should not fear such a challenge.
What this book has to say is as valid and logical as the day it was written.

Blows Christanity away.......2007-08-04

Not only does it blow Christanity into the four winds of the universe it does so equally to any other religion on earth, especially revealed religion. The Age of Reasons reason and logic cuts to the quick and chase and if you can't understand it you are to superstitious and locked in to a mythical mind set and lost in a quagmire of your own emotions. And as Paine said, it will chase you into eternity until you have the ultimate epiphany and wake up to the self imposed lockstep groupthink foolishness of your past.

But 1 star for this misprint-riddled version from Cosimo.......2007-06-09

If Cosimo do employ a proof-reader, he or she ought to be sent for a drugs test, or investigated for being a fundamentalist Christian deliberately trying to sabotage this masterpiece, the first logical attack on Christianity's shaky beliefs. Or should I say, they should consider a lawsuit against the printers. Those were my thoughts as I went through the book. The text often stops in mid-sentence, where another one will start, and you have to search halfway down the page to find how the sentence before had ended. Then to the end of that paragraph, and back up half a page to where you left off. By then you've lost the flow of the sentence and have to repeat the procedure. The footnotes have been allowed to mix in with the main body of the text in a confusing manner the likes of which I have never seen in a book before. That's besides the host of other routine misprints which alone would have been worthy of criticism. Using 21st century technology, Cosimo have surely been beaten in the accuracy game by the publishers/printers of the 1795 original. Naturally, none of this is the fault of Thomas Paine, and the book itself is a great read, and surprisingly readable for a book from that era. Like some have pointed out though, later scientific discoveries, like the theory of evolution for example, or the 19th century archaeological discoveries of the Middle East which showed the origins of a number of classic biblical stories, may have led Paine to rethink some of his statements on the universe and existence of God, and refine his opinions. But what he worked out and argued alone, without the help of much source material, is much to be admired. That he could have done so in an age of incredible ignorance leaves one all the more astounded that over two centuries later there are still so many followers of this destructive, immoral and unethical religion which has blighted our planet for so long, when the source material which Paine would have died for to use in his arguments is now at our fingertips. So read the book, just not this Cosimo version.

The Thomas Paine Reader (Penguin Classics)

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The Thomas Paine Reader (Penguin Classics)
Thomas Paine , Michael Foot , and Isaac Kramnick
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Tom Paine and Revolutionary America (Galaxy Books)

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In depth study of Tom Paine
Tom Paine Who?
TOM PAINE-INTERNATIONALIST REVOLUTIONARY DEMOCRAT
Paine: One of America's first Public Intellectuals
Paine in the context of his time.

Tom Paine and Revolutionary America (Galaxy Books)
Eric Foner
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195021827

Book Description

Since its publication in 1976, Tom Paine and Revolutionary America has been recognized as a classic study of the career of the foremost political pamphleteer of the Age of Revolution, and a model of how to integrate the political, intellectual, and social history of the struggle for American independence. Foner skillfully brings together an account of Paine's remarkable career with a careful examination of the social worlds within which he operated, in Great Britain, France, and especially the United States. He explores Paine's political and social ideas and the way he popularized them by pioneering a new form of political writing, using simple, direct language and addressing himself to a reading public far broader than previous writers had commanded. He shows which of Paine's views remained essentially fixed throughout his career, while directing attention to the ways his stance on social questions evolved under the pressure of events. This enduring work makes clear the tremendous impact Paine's writing exerted on the American Revolution, and suggests why he failed to have a similar impact during his career in revolutionary France. It also offers new insights into the nature and internal tensions of the republican outlook that helped to shape the Revolution. In a new preface, Foner discusses the origins of this book and the influences of the 1960s and 1970s on its writing. He also looks at how Paine has been adopted by scholars and politicians of many stripes, and has even been called the patron saint of the Internet.

Customer Reviews:

In depth study of Tom Paine.......2007-09-05

Tom Paine's Common Sense was one of the most influential writings of the American Revolution. Eric Foner covers this period of Paine's career in 30 pages. The rest of this tome is dedicated to the founding of new political systems in Pennsylvania and controversies surrounding the establishment of the Bank of North America. Although these topics are of interest to scholars, they were of limited interest to this more casual reader. I found much of the book tedious and difficult to wade through. It would probably be great for those with a thirst for rarely documented parts of early American history. Probably this would not be a good choice for those with a more casual interest in this period.

Tom Paine Who?.......2007-01-10

While the book provided considerable insite into other Radical revolutionary leaders it provided little, other than the writings of Paine, on Paine himeself. I was hoping for some insite into his reasons and thought process which developed into the concepts he outlined in his writings. In this I was disapointed. However I would recommend this book for the missing history it provided, history missing from school curricuium. An omission I feel is damaging to educating in this country

TOM PAINE-INTERNATIONALIST REVOLUTIONARY DEMOCRAT .......2006-12-14

If Leon Trotsky was considered by many, like George Bernard Shaw, to be the "prince of pamphleteers" for his efforts on behalf of the Russian Revolution and socialism then Tom Paine can rightly be regarded as the "prince of pamphleteers" for his efforts on behalf of the American and French Revolutions (and its offshoot- the pro-revolutionary English radical movement of the 1790's) and plebian democracy. Mr. Foner centers his biography of Tom Paine on the meaning of his key works Common Sense, The Rights of Man and the Age of Reason and the influence they had on the plebian masses in the Age of Revolution. These are Paine's classic arguments for plebian democracy the expansion of the capitalist market and popular deism. . This, in itself, makes the book worthwhile reading. Make no mistake, Paine is no socialist but as an agent of the plebian democratic movement- when and where it counted- we can claim him for our own.

Mr. Foner also gives a rather detailed picture of Pennsylvania prior to and during Tom Paine's entrance on the political scene there to help set framework for the impact of his propaganda, especially Common Sense, on the developing American national liberation struggle against England. Tom Paine, like many important revolutionaries in their time, had an impact on more than one revolutionary movement and therefore justly earned for himself an honored place in plebian democratic history much to the chagrin of some later historians of these movements. In an age when sales of printed matter were small his tracts sold in the hundreds of thousands and those purchases were not merely for the coffee table at a time when money was dear. That alone helps defines the impact of his work.

Tom Paine, like other revolutionary leaders, has suffered through the ups and downs of reputation depending on the times. His Age of Reason, a consummate tract in defense of popular deism, led to a steep decline in his reputation for most of the 19th century, an age in America of religious piety. Even the revolutionary abolitionist John Brown was driven by a relgious fervor. He has fared better lately, in an age that is much more secular and which is not shocked by deist conclusions. Paine also comes in handy as an ally when democratic rights are, like now, under full-scale attack in the name of the `war on terrorism'. Let me say this-if a closet-Tory like Founding Father John Adams can look pretty damn good in comparison to today's bourgeois politicians then Tom Paine can rightly take his place as a Founder in our pantheon of revolutionary heroes.

Paine: One of America's first Public Intellectuals.......2004-11-14

Paine was a latecomer to pre-revolutionary America, arriving in November, 1774. But he had already been somewhat involved in struggles against oppressive conditions in Great Britain, where he had become acquainted with Benjamin Franklin. Having paid his way to America (not arriving as an indentured servant), Paine quickly became a key figure in revolutionary Philadelphia through his writings for a newspaper, his position being secured by a letter from Franklin, and through the publication of "Common Sense," perhaps the most influential and widely read pamphlet of the times. The author makes clear that Paine did not accept the commonly held view that the balanced government of Great Britain involving monarchy, nobility, and commoners was the ideal form. In "Common Sense," he denounced the entire idea of hereditary monarchy and advocated for republican government with near universal voting rights, of course, only among free, white men. In his scheme, the main element of government should be a unicameral legislature, eschewing the notion of conflicting class interests. He made clear that there were no valid reasons to not seek independence.

Philadelphia had been dominated by the merchant elite in the time before Paine's arrival, but the impending conflict with Great Britain began to unleash new social forces. A considerable portion of the book is devoted to exploring the conflicting interests of merchants, farmers, artisans, and laborers in Philadelphia and the colonies. The formation of a local militia was especially upsetting to the status quo, as the militiamen, originating from the lower orders of society, demanded recognition for their sacrifice. The issuance of paper money by colonial governments to finance the war resulted in rampant inflation. Inflated, free-market pricing versus traditional "just" prices became a controversial issue, which was intertwined with claims of producers withholding or monopolizing products. Attempts to control prices met with little success. Debtors were less concerned with that inflation (except for higher prices) than were merchants and master craftsmen who advocated for private banking based on tight credit. The author notes that Paine, while a republican, was an advocate for free commerce. He backed the Philadelphia merchant, Robert Morris, in establishing a bank in Philadelphia in the early 1780s. That controversy foretold the many banking controversies that have occurred throughout American history.

The author follows Paine as he returned to Great Britain and revolutionary France in 1787. The "Rights of Man" and a sequel became as influential in Great Britain among artisans in the early 1790s as had his earlier pamphlet in America. He had to escape to France to avoid prosecution for denouncing the crown and advocating taxing the nobility and ending their state pensions. Paine was celebrated by one faction in revolutionary France and was elected to the new National Convention, even though he spoke little French. His failure to support the execution of Louis XVI landed him in prison for a year when the Jacobins seized power from more moderate forces. Paine's tract on deism "The Age of Reason," begun while incarcerated, was, in part, an attack on Christianity and its reliance on "revelations and miracles." But as the author says, "In America, far more critics of society spoke the language of revivalist Protestantism and Christian perfectionism than of deist rationalism." Paine's arguments were far better received in France with a secular, anti-clerical tradition.

Paine returned to American in 1802, but his anti-religious views did not sit well with clergy and devout followers. Many of his former friends, including Jefferson, would have nothing to do with him. He died nearly alone in 1809. This book is hardly a conventional biography of Paine. Its intent is to understand the social and political environment in which Paine was able to exert influence. Much of what Paine had to say was not necessarily original, but he had a direct manner of writing that made his views accessible to all social layers. The author also notes that Paine's radicalism did not have the class element that was a part of the radical critique of the industrial revolution in later years. In Paine's view commerce was a unifying social force, not one that created capitalists and a working class at profound odds. Paine is a somewhat obscure and forgotten man. His peripatetic nature, his limited years in the colonies, and his not holding any significant political office - all serve to relegate Paine to a secondary role, at least in perception. But the author contends that Paine had substantial influence in American thought, even if subtle and not well recognized.

Paine in the context of his time........2001-07-29

I had bought this book because I wanted to learn more about Tom Paine. Paine is one of those historical characters who keeps popping up on the edges of discussion, and about whom I knew very little. I became a lot more aware of him through my media studies, given that he was one of the first radical figures to use media effectively as a weapon.

In any case, this isn't a biography of Paine, and assumes that the reader already knows (or isn't interested in) many biographical details. The book is more about Paine's reception by the society of the time, with a focus on issues such as the role of artisans, balanced government, republicanism, and free markets. It tracks how Paine was received as political pamphleteer not only in the revolutionary US, but also in the UK and revolutionary France.

I think that the book would have meant a lot more to me if I'd already had more background, but the chapter notes did a good job of pointing me to the best books for further reading.

Thomas Paine and the Promise of America
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Common Sense Society of Fort Lee NJ

Well written but biased and flawed argument

More than a Biography

Good story, poor writing

A Walking Revolution

Thomas Paine and the Promise of America
Harvey J. Kaye
Manufacturer: Hill and Wang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 080908970X
Release Date: 2005-07-14

Book Description

America’s unfinished revolution

The revolutionary spirit that runs through American history and whose founding father and greatest advocate was Thomas Paine is fiercely traced in Thomas Paine and the Promise of America. Showing how Paine turned Americans into radicals—and how we have remained radicals at heart ever since—Harvey J. Kaye presents the nation’s democratic story with wit, subtlety, and, above all, passion.

Paine was one of the most remarkable political writers of the modern world and the greatest radical of a radical age. Through writings like Common Sense—and words such as “The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth,” “We have it in our power to begin the world over again,” and “These are the times that try men’s souls”—he not only turned America’s colonial rebellion into a revolutionary war but, as Kaye demonstrates, articulated an American identity charged with exceptional purpose and promise.

Beginning with Paine’s life and ideas and following their vigorous influence through to our own day, Thomas Paine and the Promise of America reveals how, while the powers that be repeatedly sought to suppress, defame, and most recently co-opt Paine’s memory, generations of radical and liberal Americans turned to Paine for inspiration as they endeavored to expand American freedom, equality, and democracy.

Customer Reviews:

Common Sense Society of Fort Lee NJ.......2007-03-17

This is a brilliant work that breathes new life into the legacy of Tom Paine and links his writings to our lives as Americans today. We in the Borough of Fort Lee, New Jersey are proud that Paine began to write "The American Crisis" while in Fort Lee as an aide to General Nathaniel Greene. The retreat to victory through New Jersey in November 1776 was one of the darkest periods of the American Revolution. Paine's words in The Crisis inspired this young nation so much so that General Washington had "The Crisis" read by his offcers to his men prior to the crossing of the Delaware.

We in Fort Lee are presently forming "The Common Sense Society" to promote the ideals of Tom Paine and to work with the Borough of Fort Lee to erect a statue to Paine in our Monument Park where Paine encamped with the American Army in 1776. This would be only the sixth statue of Paine in the world and the fourth in the United States.

Well written but biased and flawed argument.......2007-01-15

Kaye's prose is solid and I certainly enjoyed the first few chapters on Paine's controversial life. The book, however, takes a turn for the worse when it launches (for half the book!) into a very oversimplified argument that "liberals" (of all times, shapes, and persuasions) are the true decendents of Paine's ideology and that conservatives (over and over derided as "the powers that be" "capitalist elites" etc.) can never truly draw from Paine's legacy. Quite the contrary, Kaye admits that Paine's libertarian tendencies and his disdain for government, contradicting his own argument. An interesting read, but disgustingly biased and as a previous post commented, should be on the shelf with other political polemics. Wouldn't recommend it to an objective student of history looking for a good intro to Paine.

More than a Biography.......2006-06-11

Although I purchased this book assuming it was a biography of Paine, I discovered it was much more. While the first third of the book is a short, excellent biography, the heart if the book is a study of Paine's influence on American's liberal, progressive, radical movements and even of the Reagan conservative revival. Kaye makes it clear that his sympathies lie with the left and views Reagan's reliance on Paine's words as a highjacking, but despite this bias, the book is an objective analyses of Paine's influence throughout the 230 years of American history. One question, I have often asked is why did the conservative elite of the Colonial Era, who had so much to lose if the Revolution failed, pledge the "their lives, their fortunes and scared honor" to the cause of American Independence? Kaye offers a plausible and logical explanation: the influence of Thomas Paine's pamphlets, most notably "Common Sense.".

Good story, poor writing.......2006-03-02

Good review of the life and times of an often over-looked founders but it's often hard to follow the disorganized and disjointed style of the author.

A Walking Revolution.......2005-11-13

The first couple of chapters are a reawakening to the true author of our Declaration of Independence and the great Liberal Concept of Liberty and Rights. Sadly, the book then turns into a strained effort to link Paine to every subsequent left leaning movement without creditable argument and to little purpose in explaining Paine's Promise of America. Popcorn Politics.

The Age of Reason: Examination of the Prophecies

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Prophecies
A look at out-of-context prophecies.

The Age of Reason: Examination of the Prophecies
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: American Atheist Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0910309701

Book Description

Until the publication of this annotated edition, Thomas Paine's third part of "The Age Of Reason" was extremely rare and almost unknown. Titled "Examination of the Prophecies," the book examines all the supposed prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament alleged by the evangelists of the New Testament. With great wit and penetrating logic, Paine showed that not one of the Old Testament passages cited had anything to do with the Christian's would-be Messiah. Paine appears to have been the first writer in English to suggest that Jesus was not an historical figure.

Frank R. Zindler's marginal notes and commentary examine the Greek and Hebrew texts of the verses being discussed. They show that Paine, who knew no ancient languages and knew of none of the important biblical manuscripts that would be discovered after his death, was astonishingly correct in his critique.

Customer Reviews:

Prophecies.......2001-09-05

This book is a excellent antidote to books like "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" that fool unsuspecting readers into the validity of the Bible. Paine's work "Examination of Prophecies Age of Reason" examines one by one, each alledged prophecy and compares them to the Old Testament to determine if the texts where prophecies or not. It's a superb work on the NT but really belongs with a Christian, he needs to read it much more than a non-believer.

A look at out-of-context prophecies........2000-06-05

Many Christians cite Old Testament passages as prophecies of Jesus that appear in the New Testament. In this work, Thomas Paine exposes all of the so-called prophecies as either irrelevant or taken out of context from the original Old Testament passages. This is the Third Section of his masterwork "The Age Of Reason" which does not make all editions, due to its' content, yet it is probably the most vital section. This particular edition is made even all the more valued by the footnotes of American Atheist scholar and writer Frank Zindler. He does an excellent job in clarifying the Greek and Hebrew grammar problems and also in making certain chronologies clearer. This is an excellent book for the debunker of Biblical claims.

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The Hobo Philosopher
Efficiencies of Democracy
Considered a founding father of democracy and egalitarianism.
Paine's prescient screed against authoritarian precedent
Historically important, but can't stand on its own.

Rights of Man
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0543954617
Release Date: 2000-11-29

Book Description

One of Paine's greatest and most widely read works, considered a classic statement of faith in democracy and egalitarianism, defends the early events of the French Revolution, supports social security for workers, public employment for those in need of work, abolition of laws limiting wages, and other social reforms.

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No individual's writing better exemplifies this transformation of the language of social and political change than that of Thomas Paine (1737-1809). And no individual has a better claim to be the world's first international revolutionary. His writings bear witness to his revolutionary activities, and provide us with a detailed picture of the evolving understanding of social and political change at the end of the eighteenth century.

Customer Reviews:

The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-19

In reading Tom Payne it is best to go right to the horse's mouth. Don't buy a volume with a modern day author's interpretation. Tom expresses himself clearly, logically and in up to date readable language. He needs no interpreter. Read what he has to say for yourself and make your own judgements.
This work is rather amazing when you consider the date that he penned these masterpieces. Don't pay any attention to the right-wing attempts at slurring Tom even today. He made sense in 1776 and his arguments makes sense today. If there were no Tom Paine I doubt if their would be an independent United States today - even George Washington admitted that fact. Tom Paine was simply too outspoken and too honest (and too courageous) for his time - or for today's times for that matter.
If you love history, philosophy, or politics as an American this is a man that you must read.
Tom Paine writing style and ability is "inspirational" to say the least.

Efficiencies of Democracy.......2007-02-05

The book is a response to arguments made by Edmond Burke that were critical to the constitution and behavior that resulted from the French revolution. Edmond Burke believed in the English constitution and the structure of the government in Great Britain. Mr. Paine argued the British did not have a constitution, the government was tyrannical, not efficient, a poor economic system, and not democratic. The sporadic alterations in the general design of the English government was not designed by the people voted on by the population in Great Britain, so it cannot be considered a constitution. The purpose of this work is to make an argument why the constitution set up by the French revolution is superior to the pre-Revolutionary French government and the current British government at the time of publication. No constitution cannot be established but through referendum.

Thomas Paine argues that the equality of man is established by his very nature. His arguments come from the bible and other religious resources. The rationale for the rights from man come from God, but the author does not believe an individual religion has a monopoly on the truth. Pain believed in freedom of association and the organization of individuals in the making a political argument. He believed people of opposing thoughts could come to accommodation while they walked this earth. Anyhow he believed in the arguments of different world views could be made to come to the conclusion all men equal in his natural state.

Paine argued government is formed either through Superstition (Religious manipulation) Power (war, conquering a people) and those that arise out of society (constitutional government). Constitution must occur before the government. The United States and France were his examples of governments coming from society. Governments that exist out of power or superstition produce a hereditary government or government ruled by a certain association not from the population or society. Edmond Burke defended the nobility. Mr. Paine made a distinction between government privileges inherited based on birth and the wealth obtained through inheritance. Titles are nicknames of legal sanction to have authority over others in the population. Consequence is not just unfairness, but a less competent government and the lack of fairness in governmental decisions. Distinction between people must be determined by the person's utility. Does the person improve society by holding a specific position of trust. The sovereign and legislators should be determined by the vote. Transmission of ideas through debate will improve the government. Debate is formed through association. People should be encouraged form into groups in order to form alliance to their point across. Society and Civilization, the wants of the people can be pursued more efficiently when a structure exists where ideas may be debated, thoughts learned, and more may seek participation. Some men have abilities that other do not posses. Society therefore the individual function better under structure but that does not mean all governments are equally as effective. Thomas Paine did not want the rights of a select few chosen through heredity protected at the expense of others. Men seek a fair government where their concerns are heard.

Thomas Paine believed in the Universal Right of Conscience. Man does not worship man, but God. The mortal worships the immortal. Government should not presume or regulate how man worships the immortal neither should government define who the immortal is. - If man is free to judge his own faith his beliefs will hold what is to be true. - If man is free to judge another's faith he will hold or believe the idea of another God to be false. Thomas Pain makes the argument government corrupts religion. I have no argument here. But when he argues that government is the cause of religious intolerance that argument is absurd.

The author saw the forces of history on the side democracy. Thomas Paine saw democracy as a major factor in developing the free enterprise system. He saw the United State as a major example of democracy and prosperity. Man was set free to go after wealth in so doing creating more wealth. He presumed France would soon follow the United States. Thomas Paine argued government sanctioned Charters (monopolies for the Aristocrats ) hindering ingenuity and the betterment of man. The more efficient the trade between people and nations the more wealth is produced.

The author goes into great length to argue for less regressive taxes. Taxes on products hit the poor the hardest and increase the need for more in the population to receive aid to be able to survive. Thomas Paine was an advocate of a more progressive tax. He also argued for more government to those in aid by taking returns of investments and taxes on the wealthy.

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Considered a founding father of democracy and egalitarianism........2006-12-12

This book was written in 1790 and 91. It was written in two parts. It started out as a rebuttal to Edmund Burke's book on the French Revolution, but as it developed Paine ended up discussing the whole aspect of democracy and goes in quite detail into the ills of a monarchial government. Paine was an ex-patriot Englishman who lived for a time in the United States. His time there coincided with the American Revolution, and Paine was a contemporary of George Washington and Ben Franklin. Paine was an idealist and that comes out clear in this important work. He also made a lot of enemies in England with his radical viewpoints. His was not an easy life, but he certainly lived at a crucial time in world history, and his viewpoints are actually quite valid in some respects even today. Not an easy book to read, but an important work to make the effort to do so.

Paine's prescient screed against authoritarian precedent.......2004-05-12

"Rights of Man" (1791-92) is Thomas Paine's famous response to Edmund Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution of France" (1790). Although it helps have read Burke's essay, a general background is sufficient to understand and appreciate Paine's basic and groundbreaking arguments.

Paine and Burke were originally allies; Burke not only supported self-rule for the American colonies, he also supported the emancipation of the House of Commons from monarchical control and the independence of both Ireland and India. Many of his allies, then, were bewildered by his fervent opposition to the French Revolution; Burke drew the line between territorial autonomy from a distant or aloof government and the total overthrow of existing monarchies and institutions. For Burke, humankind's real enemies were drastic change and "unsocial, uncivil, unconnected chaos," and he proved himself a staunch defender of the status quo, of precedent, and of gradual reform.

Jerry Muller, in his recent--and superb--book "The Mind and the Market" asserts that Burke's denunciation of the French revolution is "the single most influential work of conservative thought published from his day to ours." (This, of course, depends on what one means by "conservative.") Yet Muller and likeminded historians inevitably cherry-pick Burke's more attractive economic and philosophical arguments and foreground Burke's critique, in Muller's words, "of the revolutionary mentality that attempts to create entirely new structures on the basis of rational, abstract principles." (Muller doesn't even mention Paine, much less the example of the United States.) Such a focus inevitably sidesteps Burke's brief for the supremacy of European monarchical institutions and of the landed aristocracy. And that's where Paine comes in.

With his usual acerbic wit and extravagant rhetoric, Paine, in the first part of his treatise, makes mincemeat out of Burke's sillier statements. For example, he finds especially unspeakable Burke's claim that that "the English nation did, at the time of the [1688] Revolution, most solemnly renounce and abdicate [the right of self-rule], for themselves, and for all their posterity for ever." Paine correctly challenges the primacy of a decision made by members of that generation over desires of other generations, questions the right of any generation to surrender the rights of their descendants, and notes that "government is for the living, and not for the dead, it is the living only that has any right in it."

He also chastises the English for a system of hereditary government that virtually guarantees unfettered rule by children, madmen, idiots, and foreign-born pretenders (and he certainly has plenty of examples from which to choose), many of whom led their realms into chaos and terror without the help of radical revolutionaries. And Paine argues that wars would cease with the promotion of democracy and the cessation of the selfish interests of absolutists. His critics rightly respond that the rise of democratic institutions has hardly stopped wars, although one might pose the counterargument that, relatively speaking, democratic governments go to war with each other much less frequently.

In the second part, Paine proposes a radical agenda for an overhaul of the British government. Although his anecdotally based statistics and figures must be viewed with skepticism and a few laughs, the prescience of his proposals is startling: poverty relief, social security, public education, maternity care, homeless shelters, workfare, veteran's benefits, and progressive taxation. His is the agenda of the idealist: "When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive . . . when these things can be said, then may that country boast its constitution and its government."

Paine, of course, had the nascent United States to cite in support of his proposals, but he and Burke were debating these matters before the onset of the Jacobin Reign of Terror, which dismayed Paine and seems to have realized Burke's worst fears. Yet, throughout history, for every Robespierre or Lenin, one can find a Mandela or a Walesa; monarchies too were no strangers to upheaval. Paine hardly argued for "mob rule" or even "majority rule"; the French Revolution failed in part because it violated the fundamental tenet that the citizens of each nation have a right to choose whatever rule they please, even "a bad or defective government, . . . so long as the majority to not impose conditions on the minority, different to what they impose on themselves"--a caveat we all should take to heart in today's political climate.

Historically important, but can't stand on its own........2002-06-07

This book is important for the historian who wishes to get a glimpse into the workings of the mind of an important figure in American Revolutionary history, but it doesn't stand on its own. It is written almost entirely as a response to Edmund Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution in France", so I would not recommend reading this one until and unless one has read that one. Otherwise, it is impossible to judge the fairness of the rebuttals of Burke's points, as one only sees them through Paine's perspective, and Paine is far from a fair and impartial debater; he misses no opportunity to belittle his opponent's arguments, and even his opponent himself. I would not be at all surprised to discover that he gives an inaccurate picture of what Burke had to say, particularly given that history speaks rather better of Burke's misgivings than of Paine's panegyrics. Both books were written before the Reign of Terror that resulted from the revolution in 1793; the second part of this book came out in early 1792. Also, history shows us just how silly some of Paine's claims for a Republican, representative government are: 200+ years of representative government in the US have hardly banished wars, or the high taxes associated with them, even though the world as a whole is far more democratic than it was at his time. He makes some good points, and certainly it is hard to stand up against him in favor of hereditary monarchy, but it is apparent that he failed to see that not ALL "democratic" movements were necessarily benificent, even if it would be hard to have much sympathy for the autocratic regime that they overthrow.

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