Common Sense and Other Writings (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) - Softcover

Thomas Paine; Introduction By Joyce Appleby

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1593082096 ISBN 13: 9781593082093

Publisher: Barnes & Noble, 2005

Synopsis

Paperback. Pub Date: 09 2005 Pages: 432 Publisher: Barnes & Noble Common Sense and Other Writings by Thomas Paine is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader. including new scholarship. thoughtful design. and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholarsBiographies of the authorsChronologies of contemporary historical. biographical. and cultural eventsFootnotes and endnotesSelective discussions of imitations. parodies. poems. books. plays. paintings. operas. statuary. and films inspired by the workComments by other famous authorsStudy questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectationsBibliographies for further readingIndices & Glossaries. when appr...

About this title

About the Author:

Thomas Paine was born in Norfolk, England, on January 29, 1737. He received a basic education in history, mathematics, and science, but left school at age 13 to apprentice in his father's corsetmaking shop. In 1757, he spent time at sea aboard the privateer ship King of Prussia, and later found employment as a journeyman staymaker in London. All the while, Paine continued to study on his own, influenced by the work of two leading figures of the Enlightenment, Isaac Newton and John Locke. He began writing political pamphlets, and at the urging of Benjamin Franklin, emigrated to Philadelphia in 1774 to work as an editor for The Pennsylvania Magazine. In 1776, he published Common Sense, which called for America's political freedom from England. The pamphlet sold more than 150,000 copies in three months. Paine next published The American Crisis during the Revolutionary War, inspiring George Washington to read it to his troops at Valley Forge. By the end of the Revolution, however, Paine's influence had run its course, and he fell out of political favor. He returned to Europe, where he published his treatise Rights of Man, which led to his arrest on charges of high treason. Disillusioned with life abroad, he returned to the U.S. to find himself vilifed as an agitator and atheist. He died in obscurity in New York City in 1809.

About this edition

• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1593082096
• ISBN 13: 9781593082093
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432