Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53192 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-23
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Thomas Paine's critique of monarchy and introduction of the concept of human rights influenced both the French and the American revolutions, argues Vanity Fair contributor and bestselling author Hitchens (God Is Not Great) in this incisive addition to the Books That Changed the World series. Paine's ideas even influenced later independence movements among the Irish, Scots and Welsh. In this lucid assessment, Hitchens notes that in addition to Common Sense's influence on Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence, Paine wrote in unadorned prose that ordinary people could understand. Hitchens reads Paine's rejection of the ministrations of clergy in his dying moments as an instance of his unyielding commitment to the cause of rights and reason. But Hitchens also takes Paine to task for appealing to an idealized state of nature, a rhetorical move that, Hitchens charges, posits either a mythical past or an unattainable future and, Hitchens avers, disordered the radical tradition thereafter. Hitchens writes in characteristically energetic prose, and his aversion to religion is in evidence, too. Young Paine found his mother's Anglican orthodoxy noxious, Hitchens notes: Freethinking has good reason to be grateful to Mrs Paine. (Sept.)
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From Booklist
Hitchens' sprightly Books That Changed the World volume arrives fortuitously, while his atheist screed God Is Not Great (2007) rides high on American best-seller lists. For Paine, though not precisely atheist (he was a deist), contributed vitally to nonbelief through his logical, materialist rejection of biblical literalism. Hitchens inserts scraps of Paine's religious criticism into an appreciation that primarily stresses Paine's advocacy of antimonarchical revolution and constitutional republicanism. Paine's most practically influential writing was the pamphlet Common Sense (1776), which inspired the American Revolution, but Rights of Man (1791-92) is his greatest work. It is largely a reply to Edmund Burke's severely critical Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), and Hitchens discusses it as such, giving Burke his due but affirming Paine's greater liberalism and demonstrating his more accessible and engaging literary style. Though Hitchens eschews discussion of rights per se, including Paine's definition of them, he refreshingly notes his hero's great shortcoming: he didn't see that ideologically driven revolution would lead to tyranny. Olson, Ray

Customer Reviews

Perfect companion to Paines "Rights of Man" Read it first if you can.
Thinking of how this book was bought to provide insight and detail for my reading of Thomas Paine's Collected works, I must admit the first few pages only sent me into Paine at an even more furious pace. I should be reviewing this book before the collected works but as it ended up I only just finished it months after reading much of Paine's works. Save the Rights of Man until you read this, I found what I was looking for and more in the manner that only Hitchen's can express it.Great notes on why and towards whom the Rights of man is directed and how it remains relevant today. Will greatly enhance your reading experience even if it could easily have been twice as long.Hitchen's is a master who understands Paine and brings to light things the casual reader may miss. Remember read it first because if you have never REALLY read Paine once you start you will not be able to put him down.

Hitchens gives a clear view to Paine's words.
Reading the Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Age of Reason can be diffuclt for a modern day American due to the "old" english. I really suggest reading Paine's work who suggest clear notions to that of Paine's work.

Clear and concise view of Paine
Hitchens is best known now for the "God" book, but those who find him disagreeable on that count shouldn't necessarily pass up this gem if they are interested in America's revolutionary beginnings.

Thomas Paine was probably the primary rabble-rouser for the American Revolutionary War. He was an unlikely pamphleteer, having just come to the colonies from an undistinguished life in England.

In Common Sense he lambasted the idea of royal privilege (let alone rule) and proclaimed The Law Is King! That statement alone shows his relevance for today, as debate over the proper extent of executive power rages.

Paine got a raw deal from history, probably because he was a deist and explicitly rejected (in The Age of Reason) formal religion of any kind.

The best reason to read this book is if you want to understand Paine's role in the American Revolution without picking up a textbook-size tome. You also get a quickly drawn but insightful portrait of the man generally.