Common Sense
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Common Sense
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Narrated by:
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Jennifer Mary Dixon
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By:
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Thomas Paine
About this listen
Common Sense by Thomas Paine (1737-1809), originally published anonymously (by "an Englishman") in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776. This revised edition was published on February 14, 1776. It had a great influence at the time, particularly with regard to the colonies becoming completely independent of Great Britain as well as bringing about the issuance of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress in July 1776.
Some estimated that more than a million copies, in newspapers and in pamphlet form, were sold throughout America and Europe within a year of its first publication. It was very popular in France. As of 2006 it was still the all-time best seller in America and is still in print today. Thomas Paine, an independent British American political activist, philosopher, and writer, edited his pamphlet when he assessed there was no "attempt to refute the Doctrine of Independence" and stressed that the ideas within were influenced by "reason and principle" and not by "party" politics. He was one of the founding fathers of the United States.
Public Domain (P)2017 Jennifer Mary DixonRelated to this topic
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The Age of Reason
- By: Thomas Paine
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 500
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 431
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 435
Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology, published in three parts from 1794, was a best seller in America, where it caused a short-lived deistic revival. Promoting a creator-God while advocating reason in the place of revelation, Paine’s controversial pamphlet caused his native British audience, fearing the results of the French Revolution, to receive it with more hostility than their American counterparts.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Amazed by the energy, originality & bravery
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- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
John Adams told Thomas Jefferson that “history is to ascribe the American Revolution to Thomas Paine.” Thomas Edison called him “the equal of Washington in making American liberty possible.” He was a founder of both the United States and the French Revolution. He invented the phrase, “The United States of America.” He rose from abject poverty in working-class England to the highest levels of the era’s intellectual elite. And yet, by the end of his life, Thomas Paine was almost universally reviled.
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The Modern Scholar
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- Narrated by: H.W. Brands
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
This course examines the life of Benjamin Franklin and his influence on both American and world history. He remains the model of the American thinker - a man who was interested in nearly everything, and who pursued those interests with an admirable and contagious passion. To study Franklin's life is to learn not only the history of a single man, but to understand some of the most monumental changes in all of human history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Samuel Adams
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- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
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- Unabridged
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
Ira Stoll's fascinating biography not only restores this figure to his rightful place in history but portrays him as a man of God whose skepticism of a powerful central government, uncompromising support for freedom of the press, concern about the influence of money on elections, voluble love of liberty, and selfless endurance in a war for freedom has enormous relevance to Americans today.
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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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Performance5 out of 5 stars 516
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The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass was Douglass' third autobiography. In it he was able to go into greater detail about his life as a slave and his escape from slavery, as he and his family were no longer in any danger from the reception of his work. In this engrossing narrative he recounts early years of abuse; his dramatic escape to the North and eventual freedom, abolitionist campaigns, and his crusade for full civil rights for former slaves.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Age of Reason
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- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 500
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 431
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 435
Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology, published in three parts from 1794, was a best seller in America, where it caused a short-lived deistic revival. Promoting a creator-God while advocating reason in the place of revelation, Paine’s controversial pamphlet caused his native British audience, fearing the results of the French Revolution, to receive it with more hostility than their American counterparts.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Amazed by the energy, originality & bravery
- By Darwin8u on 10-06-12
By: Thomas Paine
-
Thomas Paine
- Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations
- By: Craig Nelson
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
John Adams told Thomas Jefferson that “history is to ascribe the American Revolution to Thomas Paine.” Thomas Edison called him “the equal of Washington in making American liberty possible.” He was a founder of both the United States and the French Revolution. He invented the phrase, “The United States of America.” He rose from abject poverty in working-class England to the highest levels of the era’s intellectual elite. And yet, by the end of his life, Thomas Paine was almost universally reviled.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This man should be a household name!
- By Darlene Davis on 11-21-11
By: Craig Nelson
-
The Modern Scholar
- The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
- By: Professor H.W. Brands
- Narrated by: H.W. Brands
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
This course examines the life of Benjamin Franklin and his influence on both American and world history. He remains the model of the American thinker - a man who was interested in nearly everything, and who pursued those interests with an admirable and contagious passion. To study Franklin's life is to learn not only the history of a single man, but to understand some of the most monumental changes in all of human history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Love it
- By Holly on 02-20-16
-
Samuel Adams
- A Life
- By: Ira Stoll
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
Ira Stoll's fascinating biography not only restores this figure to his rightful place in history but portrays him as a man of God whose skepticism of a powerful central government, uncompromising support for freedom of the press, concern about the influence of money on elections, voluble love of liberty, and selfless endurance in a war for freedom has enormous relevance to Americans today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not just a biography. Must-read American History!
- By scott bowlby on 01-15-11
By: Ira Stoll
-
Reflections on the Revolution in France
- By: Edmund Burke
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 239
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 207
-
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A good historical perspective
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-
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- Written by Himself
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- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 21 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
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-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 516
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 509
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Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy's champion, was an aristocratic Southern slave owner while Adams, the overachiever from New England's rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government.
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 104
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
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In these transcripts of her American Atheist Radio programs, Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair tells us about Freedom of Religion in Colonial America, American Deism, Rewriting of History by Christians, The Christianity of our Founding as a Nation, Free thought in American Historical Documents, Free thought Organizations in the Early U.S., Thomas Paine - American Deist and Freethinker, Colonel Ethan Allen, James Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, Jefferson's Idea of Religious Freedom, and Jefferson on Christianity.
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Volumes have been written about George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, but no previous work captures the intimate and vital details the way Inventing a Nation does. Vidal's consummate skill takes you into the minds and private rooms of these great men, illuminating their opinions of one another and their concerns about crafting a workable democracy.
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 116
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Story5 out of 5 stars 116
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5 out of 5 stars
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- Unabridged
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity is the definitive biography of the English statesman who overcame incredible odds to bring about the end of slavery and slave trade. Called 'the wittiest man in England' by philosopher and novelist Madame de Stael, praised by Abraham Lincoln, and renowned for his oratorical genius, Wilberforce worked tirelessly to accomplish his goal. Whether you are an avid student of history, a pupil of prominent leaders of the past, or simply someone who reads for pleasure, you will love award-winning biographer Kevin Belmonte's vivid account....
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5 out of 5 stars
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well written and researched
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 79
Rights of Man presents an impassioned defense of the Enlightenment principles of freedom and equality that Thomas Paine believed would soon sweep the world. He boldly claimed, "From a small spark, kindled in America, a flame has arisen, not to be extinguished. Without consuming...it winds its progress from nation to nation."
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4 out of 5 stars
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By his voice alone he helped transform the West
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 245
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 228
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 227
In this fresh and lively biography rich in literary analysis and new historical detail, Fred Kaplan brings into focus the dramatic life of John Quincy Adams - the little known and much misunderstood sixth president of the United States and the first son of John and Abigail Adams - and persuasively demonstrates how Adams's inspiring, progressive vision guided his life and helped shape the course of America.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Destined by birth, mentored by greats...
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,818
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,737
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,703
Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us - an ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings. In best-selling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin turns to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind his new-fangled spectacles. In Benjamin Franklin, Isaacson shows how Franklin defines both his own time and ours. The most interesting thing that Franklin invented, and continually reinvented, was himself.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good book, not crazy about the narrator
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By: Walter Isaacson