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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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 »
Rivers had issued several anonymous pamphlets, including a sermon on ‘The Gospel a Perfect Law of Liberty’ and a sermon against Popery. He was a frequent contributor to the World newspaper and the Sunday Recorder To this day, other details of his life remain an unsolved mystery.
David Rivers’ Little – Known Memoir Of Thomas Paine Read Post »
