Thomas Paine's Rights of man

A Biography (Books That Changed the World)

Hardcover, 160 pages

English language

Published Sept. 6, 2007 by Atlantic Monthly Press.

ISBN:
978-0-87113-955-9
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5 stars (2 reviews)

3 editions

Review of "Thomas Paine's Rights of man" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

A short political-literary biography of one of Chris Hitchen's heroes and role models, Thomas Paine. Just a pleasure to read. I especially enjoyed learning:

The actual usage of Samuel Johnson's "...last refuge of a scoundrel" comment.
That the key to the Bastille hangs at Mt. Vernon to this day.
The origin of the association of May Day with labor.
That Paine may have coined the name, The United States of America.
Paine's involvement with the French Revolution and his imprisonment there.
The origin of the association of "left" and the "right" with liberal and conservative.
The actual usage of Karl Marx's "...opiate of the masses" comment.
The amount of the Declaration of Independence that comes from Locke.

In the discussion of The Age of Reason, CH cannot restrain himself from almost participating in Paine's attack on organized religion, but far from being a detriment to the work, I found …

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4 stars

Subjects

  • Paine, Thomas, -- 1737-1809