Thomas Paine's Rights of Man

A Biography: Books That Changed the World

By: Christopher Hitchens

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Thomas Paine was one of the greatest political propagandists in history. 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 defense of the rights of man. Paine argued against monarchy and outlined the elements of a successful republic, including public education, pensions, and relief of the poor and unemployed, all financed by income tax.

Since its publication, The Rights of Man has been celebrated, criticized, maligned, and suppressed. But here, commentator Christopher Hitchens, Paine's natural heir, marvels at its forethought and revels in its contentiousness. Above all, he shows how Thomas Paine's Rights of Man forms the philosophical cornerstone of the world's most powerful republic: the United States of America.

Listen to more Books That Changed the World.©2007 Christopher Hitchens (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"Lucid and fast-moving....As with all Hitchens, well worth reading." ( Kirkus)
"Brilliant portrait....An attractive introduction to Paine's life and work as a whole....Hitchens remains a great writer, and a thinker of depth, range, and vigour." ( Prospect)

the overall narration was great, and Hitchens' writing style is great.

nothing I can think of right now. it all seems well thought through and articulated well.

It's always a delight to read Hitchens

Hitchens is certainly one if not the most acclaimed authors of our century!! His take on Thomas Payne was so good

A True American Hero

Paine was a genius in his own time and his story his truly a remarkable one. His ideas and philosophies were spot on and overall, he's easily my favorite "founding father". With that said, though, this audio book is dull and I had a tough time trying to keep focus to listen to it.

I do miss Christopher Hitchens

This was very educational on a man that I was not fully aware of his accomplishments and was presented in an excellent manner. I highly recommend.

Hitchens on Paine = Near Perfection

“In a time when both rights and reason are under several kinds of open and covert attack, the life and writing of Thomas Paine will always be part of the arsenal on which we shall need to depend.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Thomas Paine's Rights of Man

While there is no imperfect time to read about Thomas Paine or read Christopher Hitchens, 2016 with Brexit and Trump seem to almost BEG for a steroid shot of rationality and intelligence. I read this because I was tired of the news, tired of the discourse, tired of FB debates and arguments that seemed inane and inept (I once saw a debate over some political issue that was carried out entirely using memes). I wondered how we could have dropped from a period where big ideas were discussed by big men (yes, and big women: see Mary Wollstonecraft) to this?

Anyway, about 10 years ago The Atlantic Monthly Press published this book as part of their series Books that Changed the World. Think about this for a minute. Thomas Paine, a largely self-educated son of a corset-maker, wrote a book that would be included on a short list among such books as:

1. Holy Bible: King James Version
2. Machiavelli's The Prince
3. Plato's The Republic
4. Darwin's The Origin of Species
5. The Qur'an
6. Homer's The Iliad/The Odyssey
7. Smith's The Wealth of Nations
8. Clausewitz's On War
9. Marx's Das Kapital

That isn't a lazy peer group. Think about this too. Thomas Paine had his fingers directly in two revolutions (American and French) and was working on a third (England). His words seem almost as natural as the Bible. His concepts are woven into the fabric of our modern sense of freedom, rights, democracy. He is THE prime example that simple words, in the right hands, can change the course of global events. Obviously, the French and American revolutions most certainly would have still happened without Thomas Paine, but the revolutions and the ideas behind them would not have been the same. This guy's words were matches of poetry AND power.

It is amazing, also, to me to think Thomas Paine didn't produce just one revolutionary book/pamphlet, but three (more, but I'll focus on his big three). At different times of my life I have loved, reverenced, and revered Common Sense, The Age of Reason, and Rights of Man as the great Paine book. Each seems destined to continue to be a source of inspiration and direction for those seeking freedom, rights, liberty, and justice. It is hard to imagine my country and the world as it would have been without him. IF that isn't tribute enough, here is final from Bertrand Russell (this appears in the front of the book):

"To all these champions of the oppressed Paine set an example of courage, humanity, and single-mindedness. When public issues were involved, he forgot personal prudence. The world decided, as it usually does in such cases, to punish him for his lack of self-seeking; to this day his fame is less than it would have been if his character had been less generous. Some worldly wisdom is required even to secure praise for the lack of it." - Bertrand Russell, The Fate of Thomas Paine.

a little tedious but worthwhile

Hitchens seems to have a way of making things sound a little more complicated than they actually are. However his in-depth analysis and thorough research of the man, is writings, and his beliefs and actions is worth a second read when a thorough understanding of the basics of the writings has been achieved.

Exciting July Fourth Listening! Wow!

Somehow I had expected this would be simply Tom Paine's writing, not a whole book about him. History, philosophy and politics are not my strengths, but I've lived long enough and traveled enough that I do care about these things. I found another audio book on the same topics, Founding Brothers, very difficult listening, although I believed it was well narrated. This book by contrast is almost suspenseful. The narrator reads with great understanding, but the book is written so as to be interesting. This author has an exciting mind!

Back in high school I didn't really get it about the deists. And who cared about the Louisiana Purchase? Paine was already trying to solve the problem of slavery, develop a plan for freed slaves. Paine even foresaw a need for a welfare system. Well, goodness! It's a most stimulating book. Educational, exciting, most worthwhile.

Good, but not exactly what I expected.

I picked this up after hearing Thomas Paine's unwavering irreligious convictions referred to by Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins in their atheist literature. Unfortunately there was not as much information in this vein as I'd hoped, though the last chapter(s?) did recount his later life when his religious views came into sharper focus. Mostly this was interesting in terms of American/British history, and the history of philosophy about human rights.

As others have noted, it is occasionally difficult to tell where a quotation ends and the main text resumes; but genterally the narration is expemplary with some very nice Scottish brogue thrown in for spice.

Points of Rederence

There are people who changed the face of our world, teachers of doubt and liberty. Cristopher Hitchens book brings us closer to one of them.

A well-told biography

I followed Hitchens for his athiests content. But so obsessed am I that I read this historical biography just to hear more of his words. It really isn't a very interesting topic for me, British and early American history. But it's well written, so anyone who loves history will like this book.