Thomas Paine's Rights of Man: A Biography (Books That Changed the World)

by Christopher Hitchens

Hardcover, 2007

Status

Available

Call number

323.5

Publication

Atlantic Monthly Press (2007), Hardcover, 160 pages

Description

Thomas Paine was one of the greatest advocates of freedom in history, and his Declaration of the Rights of Man, first published in 1791, is the key to his reputation. Inspired by his outrage at Edmund Burke's attack on the French Revolution, Paine's text is a passionate defense of man's inalienable rights. Since its publication, Rights of Man has been celebrated, criticized, maligned, suppressed, and co-opted. But here, polemicist and commentator Christopher Hitchens marvels at its forethought and revels in its contentiousness. Hitchens, a political descendant of the great pamphleteer, demonstrates how Paine's book forms the philosophical cornerstone of the United States, and how, "in a time when both rights and reason are under attack," Thomas Paine's life and writing "will always be part of the arsenal on which we shall need to depend." (New Statesman)--From publisher description.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member William345

This is a good introduction to Thomas Paine (1737-1809) and his works. It's main strength is the explication of the war of criticism waged between Paine and his conservative British (Tory) rival, Edmund Burke. Burke was a Monarchist who while possessing sympathy for the American Revolution was

appalled by the French one. He is the perfect foil against which to expatiate upon Paine's modern sense of the common man's inalienable rights. Paine's Common Sense and Age of Reason are also summarized and their literary-historical status delineated. Paine's overview of biblical inconsistencies in the latter work must have been especially fun for Hitchens--that staunch atheist--to discuss at length. Highly recommended.

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LibraryThing member AsYouKnow_Bob

Somewhat disjointed and rambling, yet still interesting. Contains a nice (if somewhat off-the-point) takedown of Burke. Not a $20 book, though.

LibraryThing member greeniezona

It's an interesting concept: a biography for a book. If the rest of the books in this series are this strong, I should add most of them to my TBR list at once.

I've had this book on my shelves for ages (if you want an idea of how long -- my copy is actually an ARC.) I'd been meaning to read Thomas

Paine fore basically my entire life (I was raised on the musical 1776), and this was an excellent introduction to his life, his influences, and his writing. In particular I appreciated the context of how he was shaped by (and attempted to shape) the French revolution, some of the context for his religious beliefs, and his writing on the same, and the different communities that he moved through.

I really need to read more about: The French Revolution, Paine's writings in full, and more Dickens. And then probably read this again, at some point.

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LibraryThing member runningbeardbooks

I weeped like a little girl the night Hitch passed away...

His writing was often uneven, but his voice (thanks to so many debates and interviews) live on.

Cheers to Hitch.

LibraryThing member markm2315

A short political-literary biography of one of Chris Hitchen's heroes and role models, Thomas Paine. Just a pleasure to read. I especially enjoyed learning:

The actual usage of Samuel Johnson's "...last refuge of a scoundrel" comment.
That the key to the Bastille hangs at Mt. Vernon to this day.
The

origin of the association of May Day with labor.
That Paine may have coined the name, The United States of America.
Paine's involvement with the French Revolution and his imprisonment there.
The origin of the association of "left" and the "right" with liberal and conservative.
The actual usage of Karl Marx's "...opiate of the masses" comment.
The amount of the Declaration of Independence that comes from Locke.

In the discussion of The Age of Reason, CH cannot restrain himself from almost participating in Paine's attack on organized religion, but far from being a detriment to the work, I found it as much a pleasure as watching old videos of Hitchens on YouTube.

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