The Rights of Man (Thrift Editions) - Softcover

Paine, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486408930 ISBN 13: 9780486408934

Publisher: Dover Publications Inc., 2000

Synopsis

One of Paine s greatest and most widely read works, considered a classic statement of faith in democracy and egalitarianism, defends the early events of the French Revolution, supports social security for workers, public employment for those in need of work, abolition of laws limiting wages, and other social reforms. An inspiring book that paved the way for the growth and development of democratic traditions in American and British society.

About this title

Review:

Paine's book-length essay in political philosophy is primarily a polemic aimed at Edmund Burke's 1790 'Reflections on the French Revolution', which criticised that revolt as savage and illegal. David Rintoul narrates it as a polemic, sounding by turns coldly angry, cuttingly sarcastic, and excitedly partisan, as well as reasonable when Paine expresses his approval for the revolutions in America and France. Paine's elegantly clear writing, though aimed at the common man demands thought and attention; Rontoul's precise, animated, articulate reading helps the listener follow it. Though Paine was wrong about the nature of the French Revolution and the incorruptibility of republics, his ideas about the rights and freedoms of citizens are still germane--and still radical. Rintoul delivers them with intelligent passion. --Audio File 2008

He gives Edmund Burke a rich plummy reading. Paine's voice is incisive and direct. Although some of the text is dry (the section on finances, for example), most is filled with reason, logic and irony. These are eternal words of wisdom from a man of principle. Today's politicians should read them again and again. --soundcommentary.com

About the Author:

Thomas Paine (February 9, 1737 – June 8, 1809) was an English and American political activist, philosopher, political theorist and revolutionary. As the author of the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, he inspired the rebels in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights. Born in Thetford, England, in the county of Norfolk, he emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin, arriving just in time to participate in the American Revolution. Virtually every rebel read (or listened to a reading of) his powerful pamphlet Common Sense (1776), the best-selling American title which crystallized the rebellious demand for independence from Great Britain. His The American Crisis (1776–83) was a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series. Common Sense was so influential that John Adams said, "Without the pen of the author of Common Sense, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain." Paine lived in France for most of the 1790s, becoming deeply involved in the French Revolution.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dover Publications Inc.
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0486408930
• ISBN 13: 9780486408934
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256