Ayer combines a highly readable account of Paine's life, travels, and travails with a critical examination of his political and religious thought. Tracing Paine's life from his birth in England to his emigration to America just before the Revolutionary War, Ayer considers the effect of Paine's pamphlet Common Sense upon that war. Rights of Man is then discussed in light of Burke's attacks upon the French Revolution and the thought of Hobbes, Locke, Hume, and Rousseau. The saga concludes with an account of the acrimony heaped upon Paine for his diatribes against Christian religious beliefs and his espousal of deism in The Age of Reason . A particularly appropriate purchase at this time, when interest in the new administration in Washington may prompt many to reexamine the history of the early days of the Republic.-- Leon H. Brody, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Lib., Washington, D.C.
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