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5.0 out of 5 stars
Looking back at a crucial time for our democracy, Feb 18 2002
Citizen Tom Paine was written by Howard Fast in 1943, at a time when we were fighting World War II, and badly needed to remember who we were, and what our values were. It did the job splendidly, and with great eloquence! We can use that sort of reminder once again - and that sort of integrity! Tom Paine grew up in eighteenth century England as a member of the poorest class in London during a time when the poor were treated like throw-away items, to be killed, imprisoned or deported for very small infractions like stealing a loaf of bread. He was a tall, ugly man with a hook nose and crooked eyes. Paine managed to scrape together fare for a boat trip to the new world, arriving at a time when the country was in great turmoil over whether or not to secede from England. Tom wrote a small book he called "Common Sense," which caught the imagination of the entire country and ended by selling hundreds of thousands of copies. In a very real sense, Paine's words made the revolution possible. Friend of all the governmental leaders of the time, including Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and both Sam and John Adams, Paine never lost touch with the poorest of the common people, fought with the ragged Union army during the early, hopeless struggle of its beginnings, helped Washington finally to get food and supplies for his men at Valley Forge. After the war Paine wrote a small book he called The Rights of Man, which became popular all over Europe as well as America, and helped to win supporters for the new American republic, and later, for the French Revolution. Finally, he wrote a book called The Age of Reason, denouncing organized religions of all kinds as tyranny over the minds of men, saying that there should be no intermediaries between God and each man. In thus expressing his deeply-felt beliefs by the writing of this book, Paine suffered almost universal wrath and violent rejection by churchgoers everywhere, and died in illness, poverty and total obscurity. Fast's account of Paine's life is in my mind his best book, and deserves to be read by all Americans who are lovers of freedom and who may have (or need) the courage to maintain individual beliefs not necessarily those of most people!
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