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.
Diana Gabaldon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the
wildly popular Outlander novels-Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber,
Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and
Ashes (for which she won a Quill Award and the Corine International
Book Prize), An Echo in the Bone, and Written in My Own Heart's
Blood-as well as a collection of Outlander fiction, Seven Stones to
Stand or Fall; the related Lord John Grey books Lord John and the
Private Matter, Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, Lord
John and the Hand of Devils, and The Scottish Prisoner; two works
of nonfiction, The Outlandish Companion, Volumes 1 and 2; the
Outlander graphic novel, The Exile; and The Official Outlander
Coloring Book. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her husband.
“No writer has exceeded Paine in ease and familiarity of style; in perspicuity of expression, happiness of elucidation, and in simple unassuming language.” —Thomas Jefferson
"No writer has exceeded Paine in ease and familiarity of style; in perspicuity of expression, happiness of elucidation, and in simple unassuming language." -Thomas Jefferson
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
