Author Description

Universally considered the first international revolutionary, Tom Paine wrote some of the most influential documents in the tradition of late eighteenth-century popular radicalism, including Common Sense (1776), the most important pamphlet of the American Revolution, Rights of Man (1791-2), the most famous defense of the French Revolution, and The Age of Reason (1795), his last major work which proved as damaging to the established Church as his political thought was to governments.Mark Philp's study examines the political and religious writings and thought of Tom Paine. He explores the important role that Paine's writings played in the development of radicalism in Britain, emphasizing his commitment to democracy and republicanism as exemplified by the integral connection between his political thought and rhetorical style.