Collected Writings: Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters by Thomas Paine

Collected Writings: Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters Reviews

• 
  Anthony Buckley

  I read Rights of Man in my first year as an undergraduate, and most of the others at a later date. Paine's writing both benefits and suffers from the fact that he drank huge quantities of brandy before putting quill to paper. He is scarcely a great philosopher, but an old libertarian socialist like me would be hard put not to love him. He nearly brought democracy to England a hundred or more years before it actually arrived. The great appeal of Rights of Man came from arguing (and apparently proving with dubious arithmetic) that by getting rid of jobbery and corruption in Parliament, one could establish free health benefit. Seditious talk indeed!
• 
  Cwn_annwn_13

  I picked this up from the library because I have been wanting to read The Age of Reason. It gets 5 stars just for Paines brilliant dismantling of Christianity and the Bible. I don't see how even the most foaming at the mouth Christian could read Age of Reason and not consider the Bible at best a horribly flawed and contradictory historical document.
  
  You'd also have to give this 5 stars for his other well known and not so well known writings in this, even though some of them are quite boring to be honest, but for no other reason its a great historical source as to what one of the "founding Fathers" opinions were on government, politics, etc. I also enjoyed the corresponses between Paine and other "founding Fathers" that were included in this. There was plenty that I disagree with all of them on, and some of them were incredibly hypocritical when you compared what they said, with what they actually did, but these were truly brilliant people, and for the most part they were free thinkers.
• 
  S.D.

  Of the writings in this volume, I read Common Sense and The Crisis long ago (long enough to have forgotten they were assigned or voluntary reads), and have yet to read The Rights of Man, or the additional ephemera. That leaves the Age of Reason for me to address here - it alone earns this collection five stars. Essentially a rational defense of Deism against institutionalized religion, it is also a brilliant critique of the hypocrisy inherent in staking any “evidence” of faith on the written word (in Paine’s case, The Bible). It remains a startling exegesis of how inconsistent and unreliable any “word of god” is when delivered by the arbitrary hand of man. Received with hostility in its day, it’s likely to revive that reaction today – as clear a proof as any of the “threat” (i.e., strength) of its argument.
• 
  Brett Ellingson

  Read this book with an open mind and Paine just might surprise you. My perception of what the man Thomas Paine was about changed drastically (and for the better). I gained a huge respect for him; he is far too good a man to be left to the likes of Glenn Beck. I put him in a similar place as someone like Orwell: an eloquent defender of justice, dedicated to seeing the world how it is, and honest enough to defend his ideas, even when doing so was damaging to his career prospects and personal relationships.
  
  This particular edition is compact, well put-together, and affordable - a great addition to any library.
• 
  Shane Zanath

  Paine is my hero's hero. From Bertrand Russell to Carl Sagan, from Robert Green Ingersoll to Thomas Edison all writing about the courage of this largely forgotten man, he stands for everything that is great in this world and is a bastion for those that love democracy. I have absolutely no doubt that he would currently be viewed as the greatest of all the Founding Father's of the United States had he not gone against the conventional wisdom of the day to write his final masterpiece The Age of Reason. For making what still stands as a remarkably valid attack against organized religion, Paine has been demoted from his rightful thrown on top of the Enlightenment.
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  Jihad Lahham

  a must read. while some of the social issues Mr. Paine talked about are fairy outdated now, the rest of his writings are a must read. the level of common sense and scientific inquiry exhibited in his writings pave a path for all free thinkers and intellectuals of all ages and places to follow.
• 
  Ellis Morning

  Thomas Paine's intellect and skill at persuasive writing should be studied far and wide. It's a shame we only read excerpts of "Common Sense" in school.
• 
  Todd

  The Age of Reason: Paine is a deep and clear thinking man who is also articulate. The Age of Reason is well worth reading, whether seeking inspiration because one agrees with his position, or as a stone on which to sharpen one's own edge if not. Because Paine is so thoughtful and also such a good communicator, it makes the omissions and fallacies in his work all that much more glaring.
  
  He declares, for instance, Christianity to be false because the Jews did not believe it. He omits the fact that all of Jesus' first followers were Jews, that Christians were merely a sect of Jews, until large numbers of non-Jews also converted, at which time (years after the crucifixion) the community first became known as Christians (in Antioch).
  
  Perhaps more generally, he declares that anything he does not experience and prove to himself is "hearsay" and he has a right to disbelieve it. Therefore all of human history is "hearsay" to Paine, not to mention all of mathematics and science that he does not prove to himself. Paine's approach would prevent human progress by massively slowing the process of teaching, which is partly demonstration and proof, but mostly "hearsay." Jesus himself anticipated Paine's argument when he noted that if they do not believe the hearsay (Moses and the prophets), neither will they believe if someone were to rise from the dead. (cf Luke 16:31) To return to Paine's argument: he does indeed have the "right" to disbelieve the "hearsay," but just so, he does have the "right" to go to Hell; note that Paine opens his work with a statement of belief in the hereafter.
  
  Paine discredits Christian "hearsay" because it resembled pagan mythology; GK Chesterton noted that even those ignorant of God's truth might half-way grope toward it, so it ought not to be shocking if their stories contained kernels of sublime truth. Paine reduces early Christian observations to the witness of 7 or 8 believers, neglecting that sources indicate hundreds claimed to have seen Jesus resurrected, and of those, dozens died testifying to this truth; dozens who could have easily saved their lives by recanting. Sane men don't die for something they know to be a lie, and the evidence left by these early believers does not cast doubt upon their sanity per se. The historicity of Jesus and the persecution of the early Church is not only contained in the writings and oral traditions of believers, but also in non-believing sources like Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny, etc.
  
  Paine disbelieves Biblical history because it contains nastiness, which he finds distasteful. Anyone disbelieving in history because it makes mention of murder, rape, etc., clearly does not live in the real world. He then decries that a book that talks about profane matters like history has nothing to do with revelation. Of course, Paine fails to understand the point of the Bible was to describe God's relationship with man, therefore it is not a history or science book any more than it is a cookbook or auto repair manual. The history is told for the point (the moral) of the story, not to be an exacting account of human history per se.
  
  Paine supports the Biblical Job in the notion that the existence of God is self-evident and beyond dispute, while also supporting the notion that man can never know or understand God fully. A few paragraphs later, he then mocks the notion of "mystery" in religion, failing to realize it is exactly the word for what Paine and Job together described as man's inability to fully know God.
  
  He disbelieves miracles, first from the circular argument that miracles can't be believed because miracles don't happen and people who testify to them can't be trusted, because they're gullible enough to believe in miracles, etc. Also, though, he indicates that moral truths are self-evident enough not to need miracles to back them up. If moral truths were so self-evident, why would human history be so nasty, as evidenced already...?
  
  The second part of the Age of Reason focuses on Paine's detailed criticism of the Bible, most of which was wasted effort. Most believers are less concerned with whose penmanship a particular book of the Bible is in than whether God inspired it or no. While Paine was unable to accept the authority of a book unless he knew the human authorship, this does not persuade a Jew or Christian concerning their respective scriptures.
  
  
  Crisis: A moving account of events and Paine's thoughts about them from the beginning of the American Revolution through to just after its conclusion. Mostly written as propaganda to persuade fellow Americans to his ideas, buoy up American morale, or persuade the English of the futility of their efforts. His analysis of Britain's difficulties, and the unlikely event of British success, is quite thought-provoking. In fact, the United States itself would have done well to have considered some of these points in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. Interesting is Paine's view of those not in revolt against the British crown as traitors. Clearly he takes some analytical liberties on that tack. So much so that he castigates especially the Quakers, famous for their pacifism and refusal to fight for either side, as well as their willingness to provide aid to any in need from either side. Paine was hostile toward the loyalists/Tories, though the country as a whole took a more conciliatory approach at the war's end.
  
  
  Common Sense: An intellectual defense of the position in favor of American independence from Britain. He starts with a brief critique of the English "constitution," especially focusing on the evils of monarchy, and hereditary monarchy at that. Interesting that many of his arguments, quoting scripture and so on, are undermined by his later rejection of scripture in Age of Reason. He later develops a few ideas about how the Americans ought to proceed.
  
  
  Abbe: A piece-by-piece refutation of a Frenchman's history of the American revolution, with special focus on those issues (foreign policy letters) or locations (Pennsylvania/New Jersey) to which Paine had the most direct access. Some of his recollections provide interesting detail and atmosphere, though according to Paine's later Age of Reason description, his own recollections are "hearsay" for the rest of us, not history anyone has to believe. Paine's analysis of France's motives for alliance with America, here and in the Crisis, seem either naive or disingenuous. Clearly, France had a self-interest in separating England from her American colonies, especially in light of the recent Seven Years' War/French and Indian War, not to mention very long-standing rivalries between France and England.
  
  
  Rights of Man: A refutation of Burke's defense of the English system and attacks upon the French Revolution. Paine especially refutes the notion that the people can cede their rights or declare their loyalty beyond their own lifetimes, thereby rejecting hereditary systems. Paine paints an especially rosy picture of the French Revolution and excuses any excesses against the monarchy based on the need to overturn the whole system. While presenting a number of important and lasting points, Paine tends to repeat himself quite a bit and the piece stretches on much longer than necessary.
• 
  John

  I bought this edition because the paper is high quality, it's a reasonably priced hardback, and it gives me the essential writings, especially the inclusion of many pamphlets and letters. The letter to Washington, where Paine criticizes Washington for not getting his release from prison in France, is missing. It seemed to show that Washington cared more about his legacy than his relationship with Paine. Paine had that problem with other founding fathers. The price of the book is worth the excellent chronology, the index, and Foner's notes. This edition also corrects many typographical errors in the originals.
  
  Of course, no one is a better editor of these works than Foner, who knows Paine as well as anyone. His biography of Paine (1976) is also worth a read, along with those by Alfred Aldridge (1959), Audrey Williamson (1973), David Freeman (1974), Harvey J. Kaye (2005), and, more recently, Harlow Unger (2019).
• 
  Jared

  A great compilation of works of someone who had a profound influence on the American Revolution. Common Sense was perhaps the catalyst to shift public opinion in favor of independence. Some of the other minor works are expectedly more trivial in nature. A little understanding, however, of his life will show that his popularity was much diminished by the time he wrote Age of Reason. In that work, he seems out of his element in trying to critique various elements of the Bible with an obvious deficiency in its Ancient Near Eastern context. This work was ably defended by a host of his contemporaries yet still carries a certain unfortunate popularity today.
• 
  Matt Bender

  Essential revolutionary era writing that I always love revisiting. Paine’s intensity about communicating political ideas and narrative skill (at least in his best passages or essays) is timeless while his contrarian paradigm is still an exemplar for how we should always be thinking about liberty and the future (although his work was massively influential at a pivotal moment in history and now too often ignored). He is perhaps the only “founder” who’s core thoughts will never age poorly (and ironically he was about the first to be canceled).
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  P.S. Winn

  With the world in such turmoil, this is a great collection that will take readers back to when all started for America. It addresses what the forefathers wanted in the new world they found themselves in and is almost exactly opposite of where America finds itself in this day and age of a President who doesn't understand and won't bother to read any of the books like this one that show why America was actually great at one time.
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  Hugh A. Buchanan

  One of the foundational works of the establishment of the country, it should be mandatory reading. This particular volume is excellent for anyone trying to understand the dynamics of the time. The "Works" include Common Sense, The Rights of Man and The Age of Reason, Paine's major works. But it also includes letters to many noteworthy founding fathers and allows a glimpse of the complexity of this patriot.
• 
  Sherri

  One of my group reads was reading "Common Sense" and I found I enjoyed how Thomas Paine wrote that I continued to read his other works in this one bind up.
  Common Sense ★★★
  Rights of Man ★★★
  The Crisis ★★★
  The Age of Reason ★★★★
  Letters/Articles ★★★★
• 
  Deb

  I did not read the entire book. I read the Common Sense pamphlets, The Crisis pamphlets, a few letters, and the Rights of Man (except for the very last section which seemed to deal with mostly finances.)
  
  It was interesting. Thomas Paine writes well, clearly and persuasively. I especially enjoyed The Crisis pamphlets, which were written during the war for Independence. I felt Paine's passion for democracy and his urgency to persuade and encourage all Americans to support the war despite the hardships suffered.
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  Carolyn Page

  A historical resource that will make a rebel out of you. Freedom! Rights! Equality! Liberty or Death!!!
  
• 
  Mary Louise Sanchez

  I've been meaning to read some of these influential writings for some time. I finally read one of them and want to read some of the others now.
  
  These are fighting words indeed!
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  A. Nardella

  The prose may be a bit thick for our era, yet that should not stand in the way of great ideas. Paine's thought and content should still resonate today.
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  Jake

  I haven’t delved deeply into Thomas Paine’s writings. I mainly purchased this for The American Crisis and The Age of Reason. But I’m a fan of the publisher. Library of America puts together visually appealing, well-edited compilations. I doubt they are always the best editions, but they are consistently good. I also own three of their
  Willa Cather volumes and one of
  Mark Twain.
  
  As far as Thomas Paine goes, he is a lesser known (and lesser liked) founding father. Among his faults are not getting along with President Washington and telling the world what he honestly thought of
  The Holy Bible. Oh yeah, and he wrote passionately for the cause of American Independence.
  
• 
  Mark Gowan

  Reading Thomas Paine has become more important in this era of nationalistic fervor, bipartisan politics, and sophistic rhetoric. Paine cuts through this. An important fact about Thomas Paine, would be that he was thrown out of his own country for being patriotic, rather than nationalistic.
  
  This edition presents Paine's writing thoroughly. With so much of his writing, and the nature of the texts, so much in one edition sometimes seems overwhelming. But, it is good to remember that one can put the book down and delve into some lighter reading when necessary.
  
  The letter, in particular, give an interesting insight into Paine's thoughts and motivations. I would recommend starting with those and then move on to the books. This is a nice collection and can be gotten in any library, or bought for little money.
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  Daniel Rundquist

  Outstanding. I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book. I had not read Paine since high school and like many, had forgotten the importance of his role in the American Revolution. His brave, dry, wit escaped me when I was younger and can be appreciated now.
  
  This volume in my opinion, is a fine collection of Paine's work, presented beautifully in a high quality book. If you would enjoy reading a solid, logical argument,(Paine is difficult to refute) or want to read one who poked fun at the enemy Generals during the war (and lived to tell about it), then you have discovered the right book.
  
  DR
• 
  Sherri

  If you want to know the intent of our founding fathers, read what they had to say! Thomas Paine's writings are an important part of what they thought and said at the time. Government was not meant to be small, nor were social programs and obligations excluded from the Constitution. The proper care of the elderly and orphans were specifically talked about in Paine's works. So were payments to those who were not land owners and a social security like program.
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  Lynn Schlatter

  This one gets the "did-not-finish" tag because I only read The Age of Reason. Part One is a fairly good philosophical takedown of Christianity as a religion (Paine was a deist), but Part Two, with its attempt to discredit the entire Bible bit by bit, falls flat. It's possible that when The Age of Reason was written no one had a counterargument for things like: "The gospels contradict each other, so they can't possibly be true," but nowadays this is Exegesis 101.
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  Cormacjosh

  Very long, 800 + pages, and admittedly dry at times, but still powerful and important. Highly recommended for young people, especially those leaning towards socialism or communism. The Age of Reason had a profound effect on my life and my views of religion and the afterlife. The 18th c. enlightenment movement always has and continues to have a profound effect on my life.
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  Lucas

  Absolutely not for the faint of heart. Paine approaches polemic as a blood-sport. The result is a graceful savagery that leaves all opponents maimed or destroyed. Not one of his contemporaries could have looked forward to a fusillade from this word-fighter. As a spectator, I feel all the intense emotions that would accompany a ring-side seat at the Kumite.
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  Phil Smith

  If you are an American, you need to read this critical work. If you are not an American, you need to read this critical work. One of the finest pieces of political prose ever conceived is captured by Paine in less than 100 pages.