348 pages 22 cm

Thomas Paine stands out in the literature and history of the eighteenth century as one of the luminaries of both the American and the French revolutions. He served in America as a soldier, diplomat and journalist; in France, as a legislator and constitution-maker; then became in both countries, as well as in his native England, a symbol of the rights of man and the struggle for democracy. In a third great revolution -- that in the realm of theology -- he became the most notorious champion of deism the world has ever known and is still a symbol of the rationalistic spirit of his age. - Introduction

Introduction -- A civil servant -- The summer time of wit -- An uncivil rebel -- The modern Tacitus -- The Deane Affair -- State clerk and diplomatic agent -- A bonus, a bank, and a bridge -- A political bridge -- The rights of man -- A republican manifesto for France -- The revolution of the world -- Continuation of the rights of man -- Where liberty is not -- The rights of man on trial -- A king on trial -- A firebrand on trial -- In Luxembourg Prison -- Return to the convention -- The age of reason -- Friendship with Monroe -- Amateur diplomat once more -- Relations with the directory -- Baltimore and Washington -- New Rochelle and New York -- Jarvis and Carpenter -- The defense of New York -- Feud with Cheetham -- Last days -- Recapitulation

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