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 »
This short essay is unquestionably a major contribution to Paine studies, though likely on the controversial side in that it casts Paine in a role few of his admirers would have thought possible, for it is the belief of the author that Paine was ‘an undercover agent’ for George III.
BOOK REVIEW: Thomas Paine: The Case Of The King Of England And His Officers Of Excise Read Post »
The influence of Paine’s political thought on the Irish rebels cannot be underestimated. In the Ireland of 1790 many minds were fixed upon the French Revolution. For Burke, Ireland was either a strong dike to keep Jacobinism out or a broken bank to let it in.
Thomas Paine, Wolfe Tone And Ireland Read Post »
This pamphlet makes a stimulating and informative read. Harney is known to have held Paine’s memory in high regard and may even have been one of the Chartists who influenced the movement to reprint and publish their own edition of Rights of Man.
BOOK REVIEW: Deptford’s Red Republican, George Julian Harney Read Post »
Paine: Hello Burkie, it’s a long time since we last met on planet earth, how have you been getting on in purgatory? Burke: Well bless my soul, it’s old Paine from cloud nine. They are not letting me out from purgatory yet, I got a pass for this meeting celebrating my bicentenary.
Burke And Paine In Dialogue Read Post »
The text-books tell us that the pre-French Revolution economistes’ for example had their errors corrected by Adam Smith. But what the text-books seldom tell us is that Adam Smith had his errors corrected by Henry George.
British born, this man, more than any other, crystallized the attitudes and emotions of the American colonists. His writings were their supreme inspiration to revolt against English rule. Hailed for his achievement early on, how did he fall from grace and glory?
The Times That Try Men’s Souls Read Post »
Some time ago, being aware of the approach of the 200 anniversary of the publication of Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man, I thought of various ways I could do to arouse interest in Paine and his most enduring and famous work and the republican ideals he espoused.
A Wicked And Seditious Person Read Post »
Although Thomas Paine is best known for his role as a revolutionary, political and social reformer and biblical critic, like many of his circle of friends and acquaintances he had a passionate interest in science, or, as it was then termed, natural philosophy.
Thomas Paine’s Interest In Matters Scientific Read Post »
Moncure Daniel Conway is owed a debt by all those who admire Thomas Paine, for it was Conway who first put him on the biographical map by compiling a comprehensive biography which at one stroke made all previous works of a similar character.
BOOK REVIEW: The Life Of Thomas Paine Read Post »
Thomas Paine was not by nature a revolutionary; he was a reformer. His early attitude towards both government and religion was benign, and when his early history is finally presented to the public it will at last become apparent that he was originally a conformist.
Thomas Paine: His Decision To Publish The Age Of Reason Read Post »
The author acknowledges Burke to have been a ‘great man’ but one who was ‘scarcely rational about human rights’, who resorts to sneering when he fails to have better of an argument. ‘This man’ concludes the author, ‘must have had a large mental block’.
BOOK REVIEW: Debate Aborted. Burke, Priestley. Paine And The Revolution In France Read Post »
