Thomas Paine was the first international revolutionary. His
Common Sense
(1776) was the most widely read pamphlet of the American Revolution—and his
Rights of Man
(1791-2), the most famous defense of the French Revolution, sent out a clarion call for revolution throughout the world. Paine paid the price for his principles: he was outlawed in Britain, narrowly escaped execution in France, and was vilified as an atheist and a Jacobin on his return to America.
This new edition contains the complete texts of both
and
, as well as six other powerfully political writings—
American Crisis I
,
American Crisis XIII
Agrarian Justice
Letter to Jefferson
Letter Addressed to the Addressers on the Late Proclamation
, and
Dissertation on the First Principles of Government
—all of which illustrate why Paine's ideas still resonate in the modern welfare states of today.
About the Series:
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Oxford World's Classics
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