46 Pages [Paperback]

Scott Liell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2004

Thomas Paine, a native of Thetford, England, arrived in America's colonies with little in the way of money, reputation, or prospects, though he did have a letter of recommendation in his pocket from Benjamin Franklin. Paine also had a passion for liberty in all its forms, and an abiding hatred of tyranny. His forceful, direct expression of those principles found voice in a pamphlet he wrote entitled Common Sense, which proved to be the most influential political work of the time. Ultimately, Paine's treatise provided inspiration to the second Continental Congress for the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. 46 Pages is a dramatic look at a pivotal moment in our country's formation, a scholar's meticulous recreation of the turbulent years leading up to the Revolutionary War, retold with excitement and new insight.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Liell is a member of the Thomas Paine National Historical Association in Boston. He lives in Madison, Connecticut.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (March 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762418133
• ISBN-13: 978-0762418138
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Government     > Federal Government
  • #65 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Revolution & Founding

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Altered My View of American History, December 12, 2005

By 

Gerard D. Launay (Berkeley, California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 46 Pages (Paperback)

A real page turner...I had to read the book in one sitting.
Before I purchased "46 Pages", Thomas Jefferson represented, to me, the voice of American independence. After reading this book, I see that I am wrong. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington would never have been able to persuade the "average colonial American" to break free from England. That required a man who could talk in the language of the street corner radical, who could burst the myth of American's attachment to the crown. That required Thomas Paine. Buy this book and discovery why so.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great look at an overlooked part of American history, January 25, 2007

By 

bixodoido (Utah, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 46 Pages (Paperback)

In this book Scott Liell examines the impact that Thomas Paine's pamphlet "Common Sense" had on American sentiment and the move toward independence. Liell argues, and does so quite persuasively, that Common Sense is what finally tipped the balance in favor of those who wanted to break from Britain, and that the work was largely responsible for the enormous shift in sentiment that occurred between the Continental Congress's Olive Branch petition in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Common Sense was published in January, 1776, and met with immediate and unparalleled success. Liell's argument is that, before Common Sense, very few average people had a reason to want Independence, and that the pamphlet almost instantaneously gave them reason to want to break from Britain. Paine, he says, was bold enough to say things that even the ardent independents like John Adams were too timid to say, and that this helped turn the tide toward the ultimate decision to sever ties with the motherland.

Liell makes a good case. In all our focus on men like Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin, we often overlook the impact Paine and his writing had on the revolutionary cause. This is a very short book and a quick read, but it is very much worth the effort. The work is part biography, part criticism of the pamphlet, and flows along very nicely. While it is a quick read Liell manages to make a powerful argument, one that is certainly worth looking at for anyone interested in the period.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable addition to the history of the Revolution, August 15, 2005

By 

Andrew J. Graff (Vermont, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 46 Pages (Paperback)

In the year 1763, at the height of the First British Empire, an American colonist's greatest pride was to be the subject of an English king. For fifteen years thereafter, the ill-conceived policies of imperial ministers strained the bonds linking colonies and parent country to breaking point. Yet, even after the bloodshed at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill, those bonds stubbornly refused to break.

By 1775, Americans were prepared to fight for their rights, and did so. But the great majority could not bring themselves to throw off the glittering mantle of the British Empire. King George III embodied the venerable heritage that was part of their identity, and few dared speak against their monarch in public--even the leaders of the Continental Congress. The enemies of America were "ministerial" enemies: a group of corrupt men in Whitehall had misled the king and stifled the complaints of his loyal American subjects. The king himself could not be a party to such injustice; if he could, everything they'd been taught to believe would be wrong. Willing satellites of the British sun for a century and a half, Americans now began to fear they were in captive orbit around a black hole. For most, it was simply too much to accept.

In the early days of 1776, Thomas Paine published "Common Sense," severing the colonists' nostalgic ties to their ancestral nation with sudden finality. That a political pamphlet, in a matter of months, could profoundly change the course of history was stunning to those who witnessed its impact at first hand. It is no less so today. In "46 Pages," Scott Liell explains how and why an Englishman accomplished what no American of the time could. He explores the critical events in Paine's background and the evolution of his radical beliefs. He isolates the compelling lines of thought radiating from the groundbreaking pamphlet, and demonstrates how they utterly effaced colonists' lingering notions of their system of government. Countless Americans picked up "Common Sense" believing themselves the dutiful children of an enlightened and glorious monarch. They put it down again seething with anger and contempt. Paine showed the colonists that what they had taken as day was in fact night; but after reading his words, they did not lament the realization. Their former beliefs exposed as idolatry, they were willing to part with them at last.

The author goes on to trace the powerful effects of "Common Sense" on its diverse audience: the Founding Fathers in Congress, the generals and common soldiers of the Continental Army, the average farmer in his field and tradesman in his shop. With force and clarity, he illustrates its decisive importance in convincing the colonists that their true interest, and best chance of securing their rights, lay in independence from Great Britain. Before "Common Sense," America had been fighting with one hand tied behind her back. From now on, her course would be clear, her energies focused.

Mr. Liell's account is engaging, scholarly and thoroughly illuminating. On the road to a true understanding of the American Revolution, "46 Pages" is an essential part of the journey.