Common Sense
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Common Sense
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Narrated by:
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Mike Vendetti
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By:
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Thomas Payne
About this listen
Read by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti, Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775-76 that inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain in the summer of 1776. The pamphlet explained the advantages of and the need for immediate independence in clear, simple language. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution and became an immediate sensation. It was sold and distributed widely and read aloud at taverns and meeting places.
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Published in 1651, Leviathan is considered to be one of the most important works of political philosophy and a major contribution to the modern idea of central government. In the mid-17th century, England was going through a turbulent time of change and unrest, which likely shaped Hobbes' ideas on strong government. Thomas Hobbes established the social contract theory. He believed that self-government did not create the ideal state due to the human tendency to be self-serving, something he believed would eventually lead to chaos.
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5 out of 5 stars
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For the philosophical minds
- By Nicole on 07-15-17
By: Thomas Hobbes
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Reflections on the Revolution in France
- By: Edmund Burke
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 239
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 207
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Story4 out of 5 stars 201
This famous treatise began as a letter to a young French friend who asked Edmund Burke’s opinion on whether France’s new ruling class would succeed in creating a better order. Doubtless the friend expected a favorable reply, but Burke was suspicious of certain tendencies of the Revolution from the start and perceived that the revolutionaries were actually subverting the true "social order". Blending history with principle and graceful imagery with profound practical maxims, this book is one of the most influential political treatises in the history of the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A good historical perspective
- By CMC on 08-30-14
By: Edmund Burke
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Edmund Burke
- A Genius Reconsidered
- By: Russell Kirk
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 160
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 125
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 122
Russell Kirk has ingeniously combined into a living whole the private Burke and the public Burke. He gives us a fresh assessment of Burke, a statesman enjoying even greater influence today than in his own time. He lucidly unfolds Burke's philosophy, showing how it revealed itself in concrete historical situations in the 18th century and how Burke, through his philosophy, "speaks to our age".
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4 out of 5 stars
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Narration too Fast for Me
- By K on 01-16-13
By: Russell Kirk
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Nature's God
- The Heretical Origins of the American Republic
- By: Matthew Stewart
- Narrated by: Michael Quinlan
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 109
Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy? Not only the erudite Thomas Jefferson, the wily and elusive Ben Franklin, and the underappreciated Thomas Paine, but also Ethan Allen, the hero of the Green Mountain Boys, and Thomas Young, the forgotten Founder who kicked off the Boston Tea Party. These radicals who founded America set their sights on a revolution of the mind. Derided as "infidels" and "atheists" in their own time, they wanted to liberate us not just from one king but from the tyranny of supernatural religion.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent exploration of this subject
- By Caroline on 01-13-15
By: Matthew Stewart
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The Enlightenment
- The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790
- By: Ritchie Robertson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 40 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 269
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 217
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 217
This magisterial history - sure to become the definitive work on the subject - recasts the Enlightenment as a period not solely consumed with rationale and reason, but rather as a pursuit of practical means to achieve greater human happiness.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The quickest 40 hour audio book I’ve listen to
- By Joey Caster on 04-02-21
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Who Is the King in America?
- And Who Are the Counselors to the King?: An Overview of 6,000 Years of History & Why America Is Unique
- By: William J Federer
- Narrated by: William J. Federer
- Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 74
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 70
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Story5 out of 5 stars 68
From the invention of writing around 3,300 BC, the world has mostly been ruled by kings. Though called by different names: Pharaohs, Chieftains, Emperors, Caesars, Sultans, Khans, Maharajas, Monarchs, and Dictators, they act the same. Power, like gravity, concentrates into the hand of one person, who rewards his friends and punishes his enemies. In socialist and communist countries, too, though professing equality, they inevitably end up being ruled by dictators.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing book! Definitely a must read!
- By Ryan Kester on 08-09-21
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David Walker's Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World
- By: David Walker
- Narrated by: Rodney Louis Tompkins
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 28
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Story5 out of 5 stars 28
David Walker, the son of an enslaved man and a free black woman, was an entrepreneur, abolitionist, author and anti-slavery activist. In 1829, he published An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World, a radical call for black solidarity and resistance to slavery. It raised awareness of the abuses of slavery, encouraged pride in its black readers and offered hope that change would eventually come. Being a radical anti-slavery document, it caused a stir upon publication, as it called upon readers to take an active role in fighting their oppression, regardless of the risk.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Should be required required reading for all.
- By JCM on 04-01-23
By: David Walker
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A Book Forged in Hell
- Spinoza’s Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age
- By: Steven Nadler
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 331
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 290
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 285
When it appeared in 1670, Baruch Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise was denounced as the most dangerous book ever published. In A Book Forged in Hell, Steven Nadler tells the fascinating story of this extraordinary book: its radical claims and their background in the philosophical, religious, and political tensions of the Dutch Golden Age, as well as the vitriolic reaction these ideas inspired.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Well researched, comprehensive intro to Spinoza’s work.
- By Tom on 01-27-22
By: Steven Nadler
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On Revolution
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 234
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 204
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 203
Hannah Arendt's penetrating observations on the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, have been fundamental to our understanding of our political landscape. On Revolution is her classic exploration of a phenomenon that has reshaped the globe. From the 18th-century rebellions in America and France to the explosive changes of the 20th century, Arendt traces the changing face of revolution and its relationship to war while underscoring the crucial role such events will play in the future.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Insightful Analysis of Differing Revolutions
- By Roger on 01-10-18
By: Hannah Arendt
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Democracy in America
- By: Alexis de Tocqueville
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 34 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 724
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 595
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 603
In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat and civil servant, made a nine-month journey through the eastern United States. The result was Democracy in America, a monumental study of the strengths and weaknesses of the nation’s evolving politics. His insightful work has become one of the most influential political texts ever written on America.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Most Listenable, if not the Best Translation
- By Michael Allen on 10-04-13
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The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
- By: Bernard Bailyn
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
To the original text of what has become a classic of American historical literature, Bernard Bailyn adds a substantial essay, "Fulfillment", as a postscript. Here he discusses the intense nationwide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, stressing the continuities between that struggle over the foundations of the national government and the original principles of the Revolution.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Bernard Bailyn is a genius!
- By John M. Crean on 04-21-19
By: Bernard Bailyn
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Plato's Republic
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Ray Childs
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,532
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,333
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,314
The Republic poses questions that endure: What is justice? What form of community fosters the best possible life for human beings? What is the nature and destiny of the soul? What form of education provides the best leaders for a good republic? What are the various forms of poetry and the other arts, and which ones should be fostered and which ones should be discouraged? How does knowing differ from believing?
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1 out of 5 stars
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BEWARE: shortened version
- By Dranu on 03-08-20
By: Plato
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The Portable Atheist
- Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
- By: Christopher Hitchens
- Narrated by: Nicholas Ball
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 878
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 563
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 558
Christopher Hitchens continues to make the case for a splendidly godless universe in this first-ever gathering of the influential voices past and present that have shaped his side of the current (and raging) God/no-god debate. With Hitchens as your erudite and witty guide, you'll be led through a wealth of philosophy, literature, and scientific inquiry, including generous portions of the words of Lucretius, Benedict de Spinoza, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Mark Twain, and more.
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3 out of 5 stars
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This is ABRIDGED
- By David Wolf on 06-05-08
What listeners say about Common Sense
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Drew
- 03-13-17
very funny
The way payne words it makes it entertaining and a great look into how america was founded and the ideas that started the revolution.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michael
- 07-07-16
A must read for students in today's world
A great book that rings true even today, just replace the talking about splitting with England with the way our government(s) are today & it fits perfectly... Also Payne wrote so clear, concise & intelligent that it's literally able to bring the reader back to that period like you're looking through his eyes...
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