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Common Sense (Penguin Great Ideas) |  | Author: Thomas Paine
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $8.95
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Seller: Hidden Treasures 2000
Rating:  3 reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: Later printing
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.4 x 0.4
ISBN: 0143036254
Dewey Decimal Number: 320.011
EAN: 9780143036258
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| Customer Reviews:
 American Prophecy April 17, 2008
Steve Burns (Nashville, TN)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was originally written as a series of pamphlets starting in 1776. It was crucial in advancing the thought and spirit of the American Revolution to the masses. I found this book to be amazing in how forward thinking the author was. Declaring "The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind". He spends the first part of the book logically explaining that Monarchy is wrong and having heirs to a throne is ridiculous. He uses the bible as part of his argument that kings and kingdoms are man made and the origin is corrupt so they should be done away with. He goes on to explain how a fair practice of representation in government could take place in the colonies after independance. He writes that America had no logical need to submit to Great Britain's dominion any longer and that after the treatment America received, she had every right to independance. Paine predicts that America would emerge as a powerful nation with its natural resources and location. He says that the pride of kings results in wars. He states that in a monarchy the King is law, in a democracy Law is king. This book is a wonderful trip into logic and reason concerning Americas independance, I enjoyed it. Thomas Paine's vision of America came true, and you can read that vision in this book.
What it means to be a "patriot." March 29, 2006
G. Merritt (Boulder, CO)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
"The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind" (p. 4).
This is the incendiary political pamphlet that resulted in the United States, and should be required reading for anyone interested in what it means to be an American patriot. American Revolutionary, Thomas Paine (1737-1809), demonstrated the pen is mightier than the sword with his revolution call, COMMON SENSE (1776) which, through brilliantly-reasoned argument, demanded American independence from corrupt British rule and cronyism. Paine was a visionary, a radical, a revolutionary, and a true American patriot. (It should be noted that this review refers to the 2005 Penguin Great Ideas edition of COMMON SENSE.)
G. Merritt
 Interesting historical perspective April 7, 2007
chuanha1
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This little book is an easy way to get a brief glimpse of the time of the American Revolution, the way it sounded and felt to people then.
PROS: It's a primary source, more direct than a history book, yet it's short and easy to read. Of course it's an emotional propaganda piece (for the American side, against the English king) and there are many holes in Paine's arguments, but that's part of the fun of reading a primary source -- you can analyze for yourself. Also, this little edition is nicely printed with a lovely cover.
CONS: A few historical endnotes on some of the contemporary references would have been nice; this edition is purely the original text.
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