Thomas Paine and the Clarion Call for American Independence
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Narrated by:
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Peter Berkrot
About this listen
From New York Times best-selling author and Founding Fathers' biographer Harlow Giles Unger comes the astonishing biography of the man whose pen set America ablaze, inspiring its revolution, and whose ideas about reason and religion continue to try men's souls.
Thomas Paine's words were like no others in history: they leaped off the page, inspiring readers to change their lives, their governments, their kings, and even their gods. In an age when spoken and written words were the only forms of communication, Paine's aroused men to action like no one else. The most widely read political writer of his generation, he proved to be more than a century ahead of his time, conceiving and demanding unheard-of social reforms that are now integral elements of modern republican societies. Among them were government subsidies for the poor, universal housing and education, pre- and post-natal care for women, and universal social security. An Englishman who emigrated to the American colonies, he formed close friendships with Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, and his ideas helped shape the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
However, the world turned against Paine in his later years. While his earlier works, Common Sense and Rights of Man, attacked the political and social status quo here on earth, The Age of Reason attacked the status quo of the hereafter. Former friends shunned him, and the man America had hailed as the muse of the American Revolution died alone and forgotten.
Packed with action and intrigue, soldiers and spies, politics and perfidy, Unger's Thomas Paine is a much-needed new look at a defining figure.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2019 Harlow Giles Unger (P)2019 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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On the morning after the 2016 presidential election, Thomas Ricks awoke with a few questions on his mind: What kind of nation did we now have? Is it what was designed or intended by the nation's founders? Trying to get as close to the source as he could, Ricks decided to go back and read the philosophy and literature that shaped the founders' thinking, and the letters they wrote to each other debating these crucial works—among them the Iliad, Plutarch's Lives, and the works of Xenophon, Epicurus, Aristotle, Cato, and Cicero.
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Excellent book, opinionated epilogue.
- By Noetic Seeker on 01-23-21
By: Thomas E. Ricks
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Our Lost Declaration
- America's Fight Against Tyranny from King George to the Deep State
- By: Mike Lee
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times best-selling author and committed constitutional conservative Senator Mike Lee reveals the little-known stories behind the founders' takedown of a tyrannical king and the forgotten document that created America.
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Great listen.
- By chas on 07-14-19
By: Mike Lee
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Samuel Adams
- A Life
- By: Ira Stoll
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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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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Not just a biography. Must-read American History!
- By scott bowlby on 01-15-11
By: Ira Stoll
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Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
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Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
By: Will Durant
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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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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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Amazed by the energy, originality & bravery
- By Darwin8u on 10-06-12
By: Thomas Paine
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Inventing a Nation
- Washington, Adams, Jefferson
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht, Gore Vidal
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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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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Reader Beware: Mixed with a political agenda
- By Robert on 09-09-04
By: Gore Vidal
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Foundation
- The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors: The History of England, Book 1
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In Foundation the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past - a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house.
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The Most Annoying Narrator EVER
- By JudieBee on 12-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
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The Sons of Liberty: The Lives and Legacies of John Adams, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Chris Brinkley
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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For over 200 years, Americans have been fascinated by the Revolutionary period and the patriots who led the growing resistance movement against British authority. In particular, the clandestine activities of Boston's Sons of Liberty in the decade before the war continue to be a source of both intrigue and mystery. The Sons of Liberty chronicles the amazing lives and careers of the four most famous members of the Sons of Liberty, examines their relationships before and during the Revolution, and analyzes their lasting legacies. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Samuel Adams, John Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock like you never have before.
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it should be required reading in our high schools.
- By Amazon Customer on 04-05-17
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The Last King of America
- The Misunderstood Reign of George III
- By: Andrew Roberts
- Narrated by: Phillipe Stevens
- Length: 36 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Most Americans dismiss George III as a buffoon - a heartless and terrible monarch with few, if any, redeeming qualities. The best-known modern interpretation of him is Jonathan Groff's preening, spitting, and pompous take in Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway masterpiece. But this deeply unflattering characterization is rooted in the prejudiced and brilliantly persuasive opinions of 18th-century revolutionaries. After combing through hundreds of thousands of pages of never-before-published correspondence, award-winning historian Andrew Roberts has uncovered the truth.
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Fantastic .. a proud defense of George III
- By Wyatt on 11-12-21
By: Andrew Roberts
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Our First Civil War
- Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Steve Hendrickson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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What causes people to forsake their country and take arms against it? What prompts their neighbors, hardly distinguishable in station or success, to defend that country against the rebels? That is the question H. W. Brands answers in his powerful new history of the American Revolution.
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Not a fresh take on the Revolution
- By James on 01-05-22
By: H. W. Brands
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Washington's Farewell
- The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations
- By: John Avlon
- Narrated by: John Avlon
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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George Washington's Farewell Address was a prophetic letter from a "parting friend" to his fellow citizens about the forces he feared could destroy our democracy: hyper-partisanship, excessive debt, and foreign wars. Once celebrated as civic scripture, more widely reprinted than the Declaration of Independence, the Farewell Address is now almost forgotten. Its message remains starkly relevant. In Washington's Farewell, John Avlon offers a stunning portrait of our first president and his battle to save America from self-destruction.
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Very well written and performed
- By Michael Reading on 03-02-17
By: John Avlon
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For Liberty and Glory
- Washington, Lafayette, and Their Revolutions
- By: James R. Gaines
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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On April 18, 1775, a riot over the price of flour broke out in the French city of Dijon. That night, across the Atlantic, Paul Revere mounted the fastest horse he could find and kicked it into a gallop. So began what have been called the "sister revolutions" of France and America. In a single, thrilling narrative, this audiobook tells the story of those revolutions and shows just how deeply intertwined they actually were.
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Excellent presentation
- By Hal on 08-20-12
By: James R. Gaines
What listeners say about Thomas Paine and the Clarion Call for American Independence
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Craig Adamson
- 04-24-23
Forgotten Man of Revolutions
A very engrossing biography due to the fact that Thomas Paine was a very complicated man.
This man’s mind for freedom and equality, as well as revolution are laid bare in this book for better, and for worse, Thomas Paine was respected and reviled. The author goes into great detail to describe why this occurred and how did Thomas Paine dealt with these tribulations. This was very enlightening to me as I knew very little about Thomas Paine and his influence on both the American Revolution as well as the French Revolution.
I was aware from the reading of biographies of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin that Paine was ostracized late in life for his rejection of all religions and their various creation stories. As an avowed Deist, he rejected his Quaker upbringing, and specifically the divinity of Jesus Christ. The author goes into great detail about Paine’s logical attack on both the Old and New Testaments. My only reason for a one star deduction was the fact that this was regurgitated a couple of times in the book. All the detail was very helpful in understanding Paine and his incessant rebuttals and f anything he disagreed with. The second dive into his works on the Age of Reason seemed unnecessary and detracted from the ending of the book. Perhaps another reading will change my mind on this. However, it seemed more like the author was making some sort of point related to organized religion for readers like myself who are believers as opposed to a necessary part of the story. This is a minor detail, and should not distract others from reading or listening to this book. Overall, it is very well done.
This was a very intriguing story, and a lot of detail on somebody I knew very little about. So I’m very pleased to have listen to the audio version. The reader, Peter Berkot, did a marvelous job. He made it very easy to listen to, and I would definitely listen again.
One take away from this book was the level of intrigue amongst the American patriots and the British and French officials involved in the American as well as the French revolutions. As the Bible says, “there is nothing new under the sun,” and it is very obvious that human beings have acted in their own self beginning of time. Which somewhat undercuts the ability to have a representative government. I even reflected on this from the French Revolution to current time with United States, trying to establish governments in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. Both countries, like France, have never known self government, and therefore prefer an autocrat or dictator to democracy or a representative republic. It just doesn’t work because there are hundreds if not thousands of years of training that makes this unnatural. Which makes me think about the adage that “if you don’t know, history are doomed to repeat it.” In the case of the United States we appear to know very little world history when it comes to involvement around the globe to stop the spread of communism or terrorism. We continue to repeat mistakes from 200 years ago.
United States is very fortunate to of had Thomas Paine immigrate from England and served as a voice calling men to arms into freedom. Some may say the same about his reputation of the Bible and the Quran. Regardless, this is a very important figure in the early history of the United States and a man who ended up largely forgotten. The author has done a good service in writing this book that is free of personal attacks on the man and appears to be a fair and balanced look at his overall life’s works.
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- JPALJ
- 01-15-23
Brilliant . . .
. . . man with brilliant ideas. His incredible story comes alive in such a thrilling way that it's hard to believe it all happened, but, of course, it did. Surprise after surprise awaits on each page, because, just when you think Paine's life couldn't be more remarkable, a new unexpected event arises. Incredible storytelling. Superbly written. Outstanding narration which added immensely to the enjoyment of the book, with the narrator capturing perfectly each nuanced shift in each twist and turn of a singular life.
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- Molly Rose
- 08-08-24
Makes history come alive
Maybe a little over dramatized reading. Paine’s words alone convey his sometimes arrogant writings.
I do like the detail of the author, making the story come alive and the many direction quotes from writings and correspondences.
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- K D
- 09-29-19
well written and researched
It covered most of his life. I felt it was lacking nothing. it tied together the American and French revolutions as he was intimately involved in both.
fascinating historical character who took an unusual path to world influence, has a legacy which should be almost as high as Washington but due to his second passion of trying to end organized religion, gets almost no credit in most Americans' minds.
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4 people found this helpful
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- fair & balanced
- 10-08-21
Never stop reading about American history
Every time you read about our founding, the individuals that had a major part in it you become a force to be reckoned with.
Pushing back against the uninformed who seem to have the most influence on our countries direction… is it a reason to keep reading.
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1 person found this helpful