We remember Paine now, as radicals did in the nineteenth century, because he was distinctive — there have been few, if any, English political figures whose republicanism has been so strident and yet who have managed to communicate such a radical ideology (in an English context) to such a wide audience.
Thomas Paine and Monarchical Republicanism Read Post »
Paine’s dismissal from his excise appointment at Afford left him with a shattered career, and without immediate prospects. His regular income had slipped from his grasp, but despite his swift change of fortune and the suddenness of his dismissal, he was probably quite well placed.
Paine At The Crossroads, 1763-1768 Read Post »
How much Paine ever learned about his daughter and his estranged wife we will probably never know. Sarah would appear to have conceived about six months after the marriage, and Paine was back in Thetford to commence studying for the Excise about the time his daughter died.
Thomas Paine: Observations On Methodism And His Marriage To Mary Lambert Read Post »
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 »
Basically, like all the greatest writers on liberty, Paine was a humanitarian. Freedom, in Paine’s view, could not be dissociated from political morality, and he sounded a warning note which still carries a message.
Thomas Paine and His Radical Contemporaries Read Post »
Paine, I am sure, was never “just” an exciseman, a teacher, staymaker, or storekeeper. His mental activity, interest in science, government and human relations, implied that there was far more bigger and grander things for him to do.
Thomas Paine – Early Life In England Read Post »
The meteoric political career of Thomas Paine was so dazzling that it has largely eclipsed the events of his formative years during which he obtained the expertise and developed the tenacity that enabled him to respond to the opportunity afforded by the rapid changes in the American colonies.
Thomas Paine — The Excise Background Read Post »
Paine’s ideas on economics and finance were of a piece with his approach to politics. Applied science and the development of industry could bring benefits to humanity, but only so long as their fruits accrued to the labouring men and small property owners who were the creators of wealth.
Thomas Paine’s Economic Ideas Read Post »
