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Paine arrived in America from England in 1774. A friend of Benjamin
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 and fight for 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.
Offering more detailed explanatory notes than earlier versions,
this edition reprints together for the first time all of Paine's
introductions to the versions published in his lifetime. In his own
richly informed Introduction, Claeys elucidates the historical
context and the subsequent influence of Paine's text, as well as
the major problems in interpreting Paine's theory. Instructors will
find this new edition a worthy counterpoint to the Hackett edition
of Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France, edited by J. G.
A. Pocock.
Thomas Paine was the spark that ignited the American Revolution.
More than just a Founding Father, he was a verbal bomb-thrower, a
rationalist, and a rebel. In his influential pamphlets Common Sense
and The American Crisis, Paine codified both colonial outrage and
the intellectual justification for independence, arguing
consistently and convincingly for Enlightenment values and the
power of the people. Today, we are living in times that, as Paine
famously said, "try men's souls." Whatever your politics, if you're
seeking to understand the political world we live in, where better
to look than Paine? The Daily Thomas Paine offers a year's worth of
pithy and provocative quotes from this quintessentially American
figure. Editor Edward G. Gray argues that we are living in a moment
that Thomas Paine might recognize--or perhaps more precisely, a
moment desperate for someone whose rhetoric can ignite a
large-scale social and political transformation. Paine was a master
of political rhetoric, from the sarcastic insult to the diplomatic
apercu, and this book offers a sleek and approachable sampler of
some of the sharpest bits from his oeuvre. As Paine himself says in
the entry for January 20: "The present state of America is truly
alarming to every man who is capable of reflexion." The Daily
Thomas Paine--the newest addition to the University of Chicago
Press's ongoing series of collected wisdom from notable
writers--should prove equally incendiary and inspirational for
contemporary readers with an eye for politics, even those who
prefer the tweet to the pamphlet.
Three key works by one of the world's most eloquent proponents of democracy. Essential reading for all who cherish liberty.
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Common Sense (Paperback)
Thomas Paine; Introduction by Alan S Taylor
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R691
Discovery Miles 6 910
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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"In "Common Sense" a writer found his moment to change the
world," Alan Taylor writes in his introduction. When Paine's attack
on the British mixed constitution of kings, lords, and commons was
published in January 1776, fighting had already erupted between
British troops and American Patriots, but many Patriots still
balked at seeking independence. "By discrediting the sovereign
king," Taylor argues, "Paine made independence thinkable--as he
relocated sovereignty from a royal family to the collective people
of a republic." Paine's American readers could conclude that they
stood at "the center of a new and coming world of utopian
potential." The John Harvard Library edition follows the text of
the expanded edition printed by the shop of Benjamin Towne for W.
and T. Bradford of Philadelphia.
Written in the years from 1792 to 1795 while Thomas Paine was in
prison, "The Age of Reason" shocked 18th-century readers with its
attack on the conventions of Christianity. Based on years of study
and reflection by the author, the work is written from the deist
point of view and questions Christian beliefs and the role of
religion in society. Its resonance remains undiminished after two
centuries, and it continues to influence thinkers around the world
Advocating equality, meritocracy, and social responsibility in
plain language, Paine galvanized tens of thousands of readers and
changed the framework of political discourse. He was tried and
convicted for sedition by the British government for publishing the
pamphlet, but his direct style and provocative ideas were hugely
influential and continue to speak to modern readers. This edition
situates Rights of Man within the discussion of the French
Revolution in Britain and enables readers to understand the broader
political debates of the 1790s. Appendices include responses to the
French Revolution. Paine's response to the Proclamation that
declared his writing seditious, contemporary political philosophy
by Richard Price and Edmund Burke, and cartoon satirizing Paine.
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have
transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have
inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have
enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched
lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the
great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas
shook civilization, and helped make us who we are.
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.
The Age of Reason is one of Thomas Paine's most well-known and
influential works, considered a must-read for anyone interested in
philosophy.
Thomas Paine's COMMON SENSE proved to be one of the most
influential publications during the American Revolution. Published
anonymously by Paine in early 1776, COMMON SENSE was an instant
bestseller, with more than than 120,000 copies distributed. In
COMMON SENSE, Paine advocated the independence of the American
colonies from the British Empire, providing a number of grievances
against the British to justify action.
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