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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
He who dares not offend can not be honest,
By
This review is from: The American Crisis (Paperback)
Thomas Paine wrote this series of articles during the War of Independence.
He defines his purpose, in Crisis VII, as `setting forth to the one the impossibility of being conquered, and to the other the impossibility of conquering'. There are 12 Crisis articles; oddly, though they are numbered chronologically, there is no number XII. The final one is numbered XIII; number X is not identified as such, but is called Crisis Extraordinary. The first was dated December 1776, and number XIII is from April 1783. They can be read as running commentary on the war, with always updated views on the state of things and summaries of the history of the conflict. The articles are signed `Common Sense' after his own seminal pamphlet from the initial period of the war. Some of them are addressed to somebody, like an open letter. The recipients are the British commander of the expedition forces, or the British `peace commission' sent to negotiate anything but independence, or the American people, or just the inhabitants of America, or the people of England... TP sees himself as a natural interface between Britain and America, having himself only immigrated recently, not long before the war started. He assumes that the people of England have no real information about the war, being fully reliant on the official government propaganda, whereas the Americans can take sides and can draw on different sources. Essentially, TP is full of contempt for British bullying and incompetence. His predictions for the development of the conflict prove amazingly farsighted. Even during the hard early years, when the expedition forces seemed to overwhelm the independence fighters, TP never believed in defeat. At least not in writing. While some of the texts are outdated, a lot of them are fully alive even today. The man was a first rate propaganda talent, and he wrote on the right side of the fence. In times of hardship: Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. He who dares not offend can not be honest. There are men who have not virtue enough to be angry. By the way, congratulations on the 4th of July to my American friends.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What an amazing piece of literature this is!,
By
This review is from: The American Crisis (Hardcover)
"These are the times that try men's souls". Many Americans know these words, but few can tell you where these words were first written or by whom. Fewer still can fully describe the details and the story behind why these words were penned. Too bad, for the times that try men's souls are still here in many regards, and we would all do better to read this classic book again.
I re-read Thomas Paine's "The American Crisis" as an accompaniment to the book "To Try Men's Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom (George Washington 1)", by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. What an amazing piece of literature this is! Knowing the details behind why Paine wrote this booklet, his second such venture following the much beloved "Common Sense", makes for an overall understanding of its impact on the American Patriots at that time of "Crisis" all the more vivid and understandable. I highly recommend reading "The American Crisis" along with "To Try Men's Souls".
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