This is one of my trad paperbacks that I ordered online and received on Sa 9/23/06, and I never had read it.
I finished the book Mo 4/17/17 After my first meeting with Shane Miller about the kitchen renovation/ gutter-soffit projects.
The book is a 'warts and all' portrait of Tom Paine, but it's all fairly accurate. The guy was unhappy, misunderstood, obstreperous, unloved, alcoholic and ugly. But, he was undeniably one of the most important voices of the American revolutionary period.
He was an Englishman and used his connection to Ben Franklin to immigrate to America.
In this book it says that he was a corset maker, but I've read that this is not true. He actually worked with the rope lines used in boat building. The 'corset maker' rumor was started by his enemies.
George Washington was deeply indebted to him for his popular writings that sparked the war, but Washington turned his back on him when Paine was imprisoned by the French.
COMMON SENSE (original title Plain Truth)
AMERICAN CRISIS
RIGHTS OF MAN
THE AGE OF REASON
(AGRARIAN JUSTICE- His last pamphlet and the first American to advocate for old age pensions for all and a guaranteed basic income)
Tom Paine at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine#Common_Sense_.281776.29
Customer Reviews at amazon-
https://www.amazon.com/Citizen-Tom-Paine-Howard-Fast/dp/080213064X
I liked the book, and although very grim, it is probably an accurate portrayal of the man and his life. Many contemporary 'historians' attempt to make the founding fathers 'saints' and try to portray them as members of today's Protestant Mega Churches. Obviously, Paine was a Socialist even though many on the Right would love to try to shoehorn him into a more Conservative mold. The facts speak for themselves.
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