Author:Thomas Paine,Isaac Kramnick
Published anonymously in 1776, the year of the American Declaration of Independence, Paine's Common Sense became an immediate best-seller, with fifty-six editions printed in that year alone. It was this pamphlet, more than any other factor, which helped to spark off the movement that established the independence of the United States. From his experience of revolutionary politics, Paine drew those principles of fundamental human rights which, he felt, must stand no matter what excesses are committed to obtain them, and which he later formulated in his Rights of Man.
Excellent
—— Sunday ExpressAs one would expect from a writer of Caroline Moorehead's diligence and acuity, this is an extremely thorough, colourful and pacy biography
—— Sunday TelegraphAn enthralling biography - with an unflinching honesty Martha would have approved of
—— Daily MailSuperbly crafted, engaging and engaged... Martha Gellhorn leaps off the page-marvellous
—— Literary ReviewNot often does a biography make you against the odds fall headlong for its heroine...but Caroline Moorehead's exemplary and exciting account of the Hemingway wife who reported the war like it was sweeps you incisively into a broad-based history of the last century through the eyes of two women, author and subject, each as brilliant as the other but sharply differing in temperament
—— David Hughes , SpectatorNo previous biographer has examined Hitler's devilishness in Kershaw's detail ... his book is so comprehensive, so richly documented and so judicious that it will not soon be superseded
—— Daniel Johnson , Daily TelegraphA riveting narrative ... the text positively crackles with fascinating insights and interesting perceptions ... this is unquestionably an outstanding biography
—— Frank McLynn , Herald