Common Sense

By: Thomas Paine

Published September 6th 2005 by Penguin (first published February 14th 1776)

Category: Biography

Pages: 104 pages

ISBN: 9780143036258

Description:
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselvesÑand each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched livesÑand destroyed them.

Published anonymously in 1776, six months before the Declaration of Independence, Thomas PaineÕs Common Sense was a radical and impassioned call for America to free itself from British rule and set up an independent republican government.
Savagely attacking hereditary kingship and aristocratic institutions, Paine urged a new beginning for his adopted country in which personal freedom and social equality would be upheld and economic and cultural progress encouraged.Ê

His pamphlet was the first to speak directly to a mass audienceÑit went through fifty-six editions within a year of publicationÑand its assertive and often caustic style both embodied the democratic spirit he advocated, and converted thousands of citizens to the cause of American independence.