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Thomas Paine's Rights of Man
A Biography
Series: Books That Changed the World
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Summary
Hitchens, a noted polemicist and admirer of Paine, combines biography, criticism, and philosophy to examine how Paine’s ideas shaped American democracy and continue to resonate in times when reason and rights face challenges.
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Thomas Paine's Rights of Man
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This engaging primer is ideal for readers interested in political philosophy, revolutionary thought, and the historical foundations of democracy. It will especially appeal to those fascinated by the legacy of Thomas Paine and the enduring struggle for universal rights.
Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" has been celebrated, criticized, maligned, suppressed, and co-opted, but Hitchens marvels at its forethought and revels in its contentiousness. In this book, he demonstrates how Paine's book forms the philosophical cornerstone of the U.S.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
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Description
A "brief but potent" appreciation of one of the most influential and revolutionary works of political thought "mixing biography, criticism and philosophy" (Los Angeles Times).
Christopher Hitchens, the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of God Is Not Great, has been called a Tom Paine for our times. In this addition to the Books that Changed the World Series, Hitchens vividly introduces Paine and his Declaration of the Rights of Man, the world's foremost defence of democracy.
An outraged response to Edmund Burke's attack on the French Revolution, Paine's immortal text is a passionate defence of man's inalienable rights, and the key to his reputation. Ever since the day of its publication in 1791, Declaration of the Rights of Man has been celebrated, criticised, maligned, suppressed, and co-opted. But in Thomas Paine's Rights of Man, Hitchens marvels at its forethought and revels in its contentiousness.
Famous as a polemicist and provocative commentator, Hitchens himself is a political descendant of the great pamphleteer. Here, he demonstrates how Paine's book became the philosophical cornerstone of the United States of America, and how "in a time when both rights and reason are under several kinds of open and covert attack, the life and writing of Thomas Paine will always be part of the arsenal on which we shall need to depend." Enlivened by Hitchens's extraordinary prose, this "elegant and useful primer... ought still to engage us all" (The Guardian).
Paine, as Hitchens notes in this lucid and fast-moving appreciation, has no proper memorial anywhere; this slender book makes a good start. --Kirkus Reviews
Series: Books That Changed the World
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Thomas Paine's Rights of Man
A "brief but potent" appreciation of one of the most influential and revolutionary works of political thought "mixing biography, criticism and philosophy" (Los Angeles Times). Christopher Hitchens, the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of God Is Not Great, has been called a Tom Paine for our times. In this addition to the Books that Changed the World Series, Hitchens vividly...Paperback$4900Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780802143839
Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 01 September 2008
Country: United States
Imprint: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Weight: 0g
Pages: 320
About the Author
Christopher Hitchens was a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and visiting professor in liberal studies at The New School in New York. He was the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of over 30 books, including Why Orwell Matters, Thomas Jefferson: Author of America, and God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.
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