Product Description

An elegant introduction to the making and message of The Rights of Man, the world’s finest defence of republicanism.

Thomas Paine is one of the greatest political propagandists in history, and The Rights of Man, first published in 1791, is the key to his reputation. Inspired by his outrage at Edmund Burke’s attack on the uprising of the French people, Paine’s text is a passionate defence of the rights of man. Celebrated journalist and thinker Christopher Hitchens shows how Paine’s book forms the philosophical cornerstone of the world’s most powerful republic: the United States of America.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33492 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-14
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

From AudioFile
Described as an attempt to marry the ideas of the American and the French Revolutions . . . and to disseminate these ideas in Britain, THE RIGHTS OF MAN is one of the most influential books of political philosophy of the late eighteenth century. Christopher Hitchens, long an admirer of Paines ideas and writings, looks at the context and content of this great work and its influence around the world. Simon Vance narrates with his usual dulcet tone, and his phlegmatic approach tends to smooth out Hitchenss inherent edginess. Those familiar with the way Hitchens speaks may find this book too tame for their taste, in spite of Vances fine narration. K.M. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher
Douglas & Mcintyre is proud to have joined with international colleagues in launching the groundbreaking Books That Shook the World series, in which some of today’s most illuminating and authoritative writers address those works that have resonated throughout history. In each volume, the author describes the book’s conception, gestation, birth and afterlife and examines how its ideas have shaped the outlook and behaviour of succeeding generations. This series will provide an invaluable and approachable primer to some of the world’s seminal works, perfect for informed readers and students alike.

About the Author
Christopher Hitchens is a widely published polemicist and frequent radio and tv commentator. He is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and visiting professor at the New School in New York.

Customer Reviews

Two soulmates describe the meaning of freedom
Everyone who loves freedom will adore this book.

Buy it. You don't need to read further. Buy it, you'll love it. But, if you're a masochist willing to submit yourself to my views, read on. Then buy it.

This is Hitchens at his best; a chronic kicker who thinks he's clever and would dearly love to be the Tom Paine of today. He's writing about a genuine soulmate; both men are champions of the chaos of change and the beauty of unrestrained libertarianism. Hitchens understands Paine, because he's a carbon copy of his hero -- tenth carbon, perhaps, but nonetheless a genuine copycat. This is Hitchens at his best.

It's delightful because it makes you think. It doesn't matter if Hitchens is right or wrong. What matters is that every reader will finish this book with a greater and profound understanding of the freedom that was bursting out in the 1750-1848 era. It's my view that revolution is 90 percent fluff and fury; Paine was the 'Dallas cheerleader' in charge of fluff for the American Revolution, with the added bonus of a doctoral dissertation on freedom in 'Common Sense'.

Hitchens astutely quotes Madame Roland who described Paine as ". . . better at lighting the way for revolution than drafting a constitution . . . or the day-to-day work of a legislator". True enough. But, take away Paine, and the Revolution would have lost its most enthusiastic and articulate voice. The eventual US government was invented by Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Madison and the like; but, without Paine they might never have had the opportunity to invent a new government.

Paine and Hitchens can be grievously wrong, such as attacking hereditary institutions. By their standards, the plebian roots of Hitler and Stalin would make them two of the greatest men of the past century. By the same standard, Roosevelt and Churchill, both leaders with rich hereditary backgrounds, would be two of the worst.

So? Those issues are nitpicking trivialities. Paine is justly one of the major figures of the American Revolution because of 'Common Sense'. This was no flash-in-the-pan of inspired genius; Hitchens eloquently outlines the scope of Paine's reasoning and ideals in 'The Rights of Man' which is the central theme of this book. It takes a soulmate to fully understand Paine, and Hitchens is that man. He's a shadow of Paine's intellect; but, better to be a shadow than a spotlight that misses its mark.

If you read no other Hitchens, read this one book. If you read everything else of Hitchens, this book will surprise you for its intelligence. No writer (or reviewer) can be irrelevant all the time. This book is relevance at its best, first-rate reading in a time of an "imperial presidency" which leaves the wildest fantasies of King George III as amusing pecadillos.

Buy it. You didn't need to read this far. Buy it, you'll love it. If you're intelligent, you'll thumb through it again and again, underlining, noting, highlighting, thinking. If you're not intelligent, you'll think Hitchens is brilliant. Whatever. Buy it.

(Hopefully, someone is at work on an equivalent cogent concise analysis of 'Reflections on the Revolution in France' by Edmund Burke.)