In 1964, there was political opposition to the erection of Paine’s statue outside King’s House in Thetford, UK which was a gift from the American Thomas Paine Foundation. The controversy led to the foundation of the Thomas Paine Society UK with a goal of promoting a better understanding of the man and his work. The Thomas Paine Society UK became the premier Thomas Paine historical society in the UK. In 2025, the Thomas Paine National Historical Association merged with the Thomas Paine Society UK to form the internationally-focused Thomas Paine Historical Association. This is the archive of the Thomas Paine Society UK Bulletin from 1965 to 2013.
Two centuries after its publication, The Age of Reason remains necessary reading for freethinkers and radicals. And we should never forget those such as Carlile who strove and suffered to make it available when to do so was extremely dangerous.
Although Charles Sutton preferred to restrict his political opinions anonymously to the pages of his paper, his few separately published essays being religious in character, John Blackner was never one to conceal his, and his outspokenness was to damn his reputation.
John Blackner And The Suttons, An Episode In Nottingham’s Political History Read Post »
I have gone back to Rights of Man and compared it carefully with The Workers Charter. I would find it hard to believe that this new work, coming on the centenary of Paine’s, was merely coincidence and of no further significance.
The book is well illustrated and if I have any criticisms, they are of a selfish desire to want to know more about the books and book collecting exploits of Eddie and his wife, which could well, I suspect, make a book in themselves.
Thomas Paine was known to Polish exiles, both in the United States and in France. Therefore it is natural to enquire, as does Libiszowsk (1998), what may have been the attitude of Paine to the occurrences in Poland.
Thomas Paine And The Polish Constitution Of 3 May, 1791 Read Post »
This important book takes a close look at Paine’s deism set within the context of his historical period. The author examines deistical concepts both in religious terms and in its political implications and impact. In doing this she follows Paine’s life and work, examines the reaction to his deistical ideas.
BOOK REVIEW: Thomas Paine Contre L’imposture Des Prêtres Read Post »
Working-class republicanism became very influential in the early period of the second half of the 19th century, particularly in the large industrial towns, though only in Ireland can it be said to have evolved into a mass movement, despite the hostility there of the Roman Catholic sect.
BOOK REVIEW: The Republic Must Come, The English Republicans Of The 1870s Read Post »
Following the publication of The Age of Reason, Thomas must have come to regard Paine as a infidel – and already as someone whom he regarded as having ruined his sister’s life and embarrassed his own. When Elizabeth died, the obituary he drafted gave vent to his venom regarding Paine.
Holt was a strong opponent of the slave trade and gave extensive and prominent coverage to parliamentary debates about it. Notice was also taken of the activities of radical organisations, among them a commemorative celebration held in London by the Revolution Society.
Daniel Holt The Newark Radical, Publisher And Paineite Martyr Read Post »
Paine does not refer directly to changes in Poland in Part Two of Rights of Man, but he does state that in contradiction to a hereditary monarchy ‘Poland, through an elective monarchy, has had fewer wars than those which are hereditary’,
Although not necessarily to be accredited with being the first to question religious privilege and accepted wisdom in spiritual affairs, Paine was undoubtedly their most fierce critic in his day and The Age of Reason articulates the disdain for and the contempt in which he held all-powerful religion.
If pressed to identify any feature giving the book a degree of importance which removes it from simply being a recreational read, I would point to material in it which social historians will find of great value, although this is expressed in an entertaining manner rather than in terms of what one would expect in a scholarly treatise.
BOOK REVIEW: Beyond The Call Of Duty, Memoirs Of An Excise Man Read Post »
