Delphi Complete Works of Thomas Paine (Illustrated)

by Thomas Paine

One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, the English-born political activist Thomas Paine was a philosopher, political theorist and revolutionary. He created two of the most influential pamphlets of the American Revolution, inspiring the rebels in 1776 to declare independence. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights. The powerful pamphlet ‘Common Sense’ is the all-time bestselling American title, catering for the rebellious demand for independence from Great Britain. This comprehensive eBook presents Paine’s complete works, with numerous illustrations, rare texts appearing in digital print for the first time, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)

* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Paine’s life and works
* Concise introductions to the major works
* All the books and pamphlets, with individual contents tables
* Features rare later collected pamphlets, poems and fragments appearing in the ‘Minor Works’ section
* Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts
* Excellent formatting of the texts
* Special criticism section, with five essays evaluating Paine’s contribution to literature
* Features three biographies, including Conway’s seminal study of the great man - discover Paine’s intriguing life
* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres

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The Books
Common Sense
The American Crisis
Letter Addressed to the Abbé Raynal on the Affairs of North America
Rights of Man
The Age of Reason
Dissertation on the First Principles of Government
Miscellaneous Works
Minor Works

The Criticism
Thomas The Apostle of Liberty by John E. Remsburg
Thomas Paine by J. Watts
A Vindication of Thomas Paine by Robert G. Ingersoll
Thomas Paine by Robert G. Ingersoll
Thomas Paine by Augustine Birrell

The Biographies
Life of Thomas Paine by Richard Carlile
The Life of Thomas Paine by Moncure Daniel Conway
Thomas Paine by Leslie Stephen

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3196 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 24, 2018

About the author

Thomas Paine was an English-American political activist, author, political theorist and revolutionary. As the author of two highly influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, he inspired the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights. He has been called "a corset maker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination".

Born in Thetford, England, in the county of Norfolk, Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin, arriving just in time to participate in the American Revolution. His principal contributions were the powerful, widely read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), the all-time best-selling American book that advocated colonial America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and The American Crisis (1776–83), 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. He wrote the Rights of Man (1791), in part a defence of the French Revolution against its critics. His attacks on British writer Edmund Burke led to a trial and conviction in absentia in 1792 for the crime of seditious libel. In 1792, despite not being able to speak French, he was elected to the French National Convention. The Girondists regarded him as an ally. Consequently, the Montagnards, especially Robespierre, regarded him as an enemy.

In December 1793, he was arrested and imprisoned in Paris, then released in 1794. He became notorious because of his pamphlet The Age of Reason (1793–94), in which he advocated deism, promoted reason and freethinking, and argued against institutionalized religion in general and Christian doctrine in particular. He also wrote the pamphlet Agrarian Justice (1795), discussing the origins of property, and introduced the concept of a guaranteed minimum income. In 1802, he returned to America where he died on June 8, 1809. Only six people attended his funeral as he had been ostracized for his ridicule of Christianity.