Thomas Paine and the Clarion Call for American Independence

by Harlow Giles Unger

Overview

From New York Times bestselling author and Founding Fathers' biographer Harlow Giles Unger comes the astonishing biography of the man whose pen set America ablaze, inspiring its revolution, and whose ideas about reason and religion continue to try men's souls.


Thomas Paine's words were like no others in history: they leaped off the page, inspiring readers to change their lives, their governments, their kings, and even their gods. In an age when spoken and written words were the only forms of communication, Paine's aroused men to action like no one else. The most widely read political writer of his generation, he proved to be more than a century ahead of his time, conceiving and demanding unheard-of social reforms that are now integral elements of modern republican societies. Among them were government subsidies for the poor, universal housing and education, pre- and post-natal care for women, and universal social security. An Englishman who emigrated to the American colonies, he formed close friendships with Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, and his ideas helped shape the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.


However, the world turned against Paine in his later years. While his earlier works, Common Sense and Rights of Man, attacked the political and social status quo here on earth, The Age of Reason attacked the status quo of the hereafter. Former friends shunned him, and the man America had hailed as the muse of the American Revolution died alone and forgotten.



Packed with action and intrigue, soldiers and spies, politics and perfidy, Unger's Thomas Paine is a much-needed new look at a defining figure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306921933
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	504,177
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Acclaimed historian Harlow Giles Unger is a former Distinguished Visiting Fellow at George Washington's Mount Vernon. He is the author of twenty-six previous books, including twelve biographies of America's Founding Fathers and three histories of the early Republic. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Chronology xv

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Cries of Paine 5

Chapter 2 Common Sense 29

Chapter 3 The Times That Tried Men's Souls 49

Chapter 4 American Crisis 69

Chapter 5 Can Nothing Be Done for Poor Paine? 95

Chapter 6 Money Is Money; Paper Is Paper 117

Chapter 7 Citizen Paine 129

Chapter 8 A Tale of Two Cities 149

Chapter 9 The Terror 177

Chapter 10 In the Name of Religion 197

Chapter 11 A Letter to Washington 213

Chapter 12 Fallen Idol 237

Chapter 13 To Rescue Man from Tyranny 249

Chapter 14 When the Empire of America Shall Fall 261

Appendix A The Principal Works of Thomas Paine 267

Appendix B The Age of Reason: Contents and Summary 275

Notes 283

Primary Research Resources and Bibliography 301

Index 307

Editorial Reviews

"Masterful; a great work.... [Unger] successfully captured the essence of Paine and his position in history."—Gary Berton, Thomas Paine National Historical Association

"Unger brings to vivid life familiar historical characters."—Publishers Weekly

"Unger is not only a superior story teller...[and] gifted researcher; he sweeps the reader into the story."—New York Journal of Books

"Unger's [work] is a beacon of vivid, accessible, and thought-provoking biography."—Richmond Times-Dispatch

"A brisk and spirited biography,... passionate...and eloquent"—Wall Street Journal

"A fine biography of one of America's greatest polemicists....vivid, insightful"—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2019-06-17
A fine biography of one of America's greatest polemicists.

Thomas Paine (1736-1809) was a poor, self-educated craftsman and writer born in Britain, writes prolific historian Unger (Doctor Benjamin Rush: The Founding Father Who Healed a Wounded Nation, 2018, etc.), former distinguished fellow at George Washington's Mount Vernon. Paine arrived in America in 1774 with letters of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin and found a job as editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine. When his pamphlet Common Sense appeared in January 1776 as the Revolution was underway, it went viral, perhaps "the greatest publishing success of the 18th century and, in many ways, the most important publishing event since Martin Luther's 95 Theses that provoked the Reformation." Unlike typical prolix 18th-century writing, it's an easy read even today, and its fiery denunciation of Britain made Paine, Unger maintains, the second most popular Revolutionary figure. Americans also devoured The American Crisis, 16 inspirational pamphlets published between 1776 and 1783. Thrilled with the French Revolution, Paine also wrote Rights of Man, another fierce polemic that delighted American supporters of the Revolution (the Democrats) but not those opposed (Federalists). Traveling to France, he fell afoul of Robespierre; imprisoned in 1793, he barely escaped the guillotine. In prison, he began writing The Age of Reason, which praised Jesus' teaching but criticized organized religions and described the Bible as a collection of myths. Educated Enlightenment figures such as Jefferson and Franklin held similar beliefs, but unlike other religious writing, Paine's prose was crystal-clear and his book cheap. The masses snapped it up and were outraged. Reviled for atheism and shunned by the establishment, he died in obscurity, from which he is only now emerging. Historians, Unger included, now consider Paine as central to the Revolution as Washington and Jefferson, but The Age of Reason killed his chance of entering semidivinity as a Founding Father in the popular mind.

This vivid, insightful account gives Paine his due, but he remains an outlier to our founders.

Kirkus Reviews

The most influential political writer of his generation, Thomas Paine, "philosopher of the American Revolution," counted Ben Franklin and James Madison among his friends. Reflecting Paine’s English upbringing, narrator Peter Berkrot employs a British accent when quoting him. He also projects the urgency with which this Founding Father approached every issue, starting with his acclaimed pamphlet, “Common Sense.” Paine used his power to promote other causes as well, not all of them popular. After the American Revolution, he went to France to support the overthrow of the monarchy—and barely escaped the guillotine. A radical thinker, he provoked even his friends to turn against him and died in poverty. This biography and Berkrot’s narration capture the man with sympathy and appreciation for his fearlessness. L.W.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2020 - AudioFile

The most influential political writer of his generation, Thomas Paine, "philosopher of the American Revolution," counted Ben Franklin and James Madison among his friends. Reflecting Paine’s English upbringing, narrator Peter Berkrot employs a British accent when quoting him. He also projects the urgency with which this Founding Father approached every issue, starting with his acclaimed pamphlet, “Common Sense.” Paine used his power to promote other causes as well, not all of them popular. After the American Revolution, he went to France to support the overthrow of the monarchy—and barely escaped the guillotine. A radical thinker, he provoked even his friends to turn against him and died in poverty. This biography and Berkrot’s narration capture the man with sympathy and appreciation for his fearlessness. L.W.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2020 - AudioFile