Description
This volume includes J. M. Opal's introduction, "Thomas Paine and the Revolutionary Enlightenment, 1770s-90s," which provides essential biographical and historical details across three tumultuous decades. Paine's most important works-from Common Sense (1776) through Agrarian Justice (1796)-are reprinted and are accompanied by explanatory annotations.
Supporting materials include a wide range of documents from the turbulent years following the publication of both Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence. These include Pennsylvania's gradual emancipation statute of the 1780s, an ex-slave's impassioned call for revolutionary violence against European imperialists and masters, and a British conservative's witty rejoinder to Paine's vision of a brave new world.
Four major interpretations of Paine's work are provided by Nathan R. Perl-Rosenthal, Robert A. Ferguson, Gary Kates, and Gregory Claeys.
A Selected Bibliography is also included.
About the Author
Thomas Paine was a writer and revolutionary. J. M. Opal is Associate Professor of History at McGill University. He is the author of Beyond the Farm: National Ambitions in Rural New England. His new book, Avenging the People: Andrew Jackson, the Southern Borderlands, and the Ordeal of American Democracy, centers on vengeance and on the man who built both his public and his private life around its pursuit.
Book Information
ISBN 9780393978704
Author Thomas Paine
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 332g
Dimensions(mm) 213mm * 132mm * 20mm