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Citizen Tom Paine

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Citizen Tom Paine was written by Howard Fast in 1943, at a time when we were fighting World War II, and badly needed to remember who we were, and what our values were. It did the job splendidly, and with great eloquence! We can use that sort of reminder once again - and that sort of integrity!

Tom Paine grew up in eighteenth century England as a member of the poorest class in London during a time when the poor were treated like throw-away items, to be killed, imprisoned or deported for very small infractions like stealing a loaf of bread. He was a tall, ugly man with a hook nose and crooked eyes.

Paine managed to scrape together fare for a boat trip to the new world, arriving at a time when the country was in great turmoil over whether or not to secede from England. Tom wrote a small book he called "Common Sense," which caught the imagination of the entire country and ended by selling hundreds of thousands of copies. In a very real sense, Paine's words made the revolution possible.

Friend of all the governmental leaders of the time, including Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and both Sam and John Adams, Paine never lost touch with the poorest of the common people, fought with the ragged Union army during the early, hopeless struggle of its beginnings, helped Washington finally to get food and supplies for his men at Valley Forge.

After the war Paine wrote a small book he called The Rights of Man, which became popular all over Europe as well as America, and helped to win supporters for the new American republic, and later, for the French Revolution.

Finally, he wrote a book called The Age of Reason, denouncing organized religions of all kinds as tyranny over the minds of men, saying that there should be no intermediaries between God and each man. In thus expressing his deeply-felt beliefs by the writing of this book, Paine suffered almost universal wrath and violent rejection by churchgoers everywhere, and died in illness, poverty and total obscurity.

Fast's account of Paine's life is in my mind his best book, and deserves to be read by all Americans who are lovers of freedom and who may have (or need) the courage to maintain individual beliefs not necessarily those of most people!

The Tom Paine who Howard Fast creates in his excellent historical novel Citizen Tom Paine is not a traditionally sympathetic character. He is a course peasant with a chip on his shoulder, full of self-pity, usually rash, and often drunk, dirty, and mean. Yet through all of that, a fierce, pure light shines, that makes him the most compelling of characters, and an unlikely inspiring hero. Fast writes of him, "in the unshaven, hook-nosed, wigless head, there was something both fierce and magnificent, a grinding savagery that might be sculptured as the whole meaning of revolution, unrest and cruelty combine with a deep-etched pattern of human suffering and understanding." This Paine is good only for revolution, a continually lonely wanderer, who says that the world is his village, and wherever freedom is not, there he will be. He is the prophet of the age of the common man, old "Common Sense". And in the end, despite all that he contributed to liberty and his fellow citizen of three nations, he is forsaken by all to die alone, and even his bones are given no rest.
Fast surrounds Paine with a great cast of historical personages - Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Burke, Blake, Marat, Robespierre, and Bonaparte among others - all men that Paine knew and moved among. They are all bit characters here, though. Whatever their worldly greatness, in Citizen Tom Paine they serve only to provide background to this great monolith of peasant philosopher revolutionary. Likewise, Fast convincingly shows us the world's first two great democratic revolutions, but only as they are viewed through the fierce eyes of Tom Paine. (This view is not entirely the one that you may have studied in school.) Everything else in this novel fades into the background as it keeps a tight focus on this amazing, sad man, who always had the courage of his convictions, no matter what price must be paid.
Paine is arguably the most neglected of America's founders. His frank writings on religion in his book The Age of Reason made him a pariah in his last days in America, and blackened his name here for over 100 years. Howard Fast has done an excellent job of rescuing Paine from that unfair obscurity, and presenting him as a complex, troubled, but fiercely honest hero for the common man. When I first read this book over twenty years ago, it gave me a new hero, and I have since read Paine's works and biographies, so I would say that Fast did his work well. Read it yourself to discover the brilliant character that Fast created, and then go out and discover the Tom Paine of history. Neither will disappoint you.

Theo Logos

In Howard Fast's long and controversial career he has created (or at least perfected) the genre of the fictional historical novel. Like Michener, Fast puts fictional characters in position to shed new life on real events, with "Citizen Tom Paine," Fast does that very thing with, of all people, Tom Paine. Fast gives us a thorough look at the life of an important, but largely overlooked patriot. Set against the backdrop of America's turbulent beginnings, "Citizen Tom Paine" gives us front row access to the action. We assume most of the good parts aren't made up. But you know what happens when you assume. At it's very minimum, this book is a great read and really, what more is there?

For those who need a refresher, Paine was the American revolutionary who helped transform a disorderly and often frightened collection of rebellious colonists into a nation with his series of pamphlets, beginning with the famous Common Sense.

When we first meet Paine, he is a frustrated loser on the verge of middle age, unable to break free of the class system that traps him in menial jobs in London. He forces his way into the office of Benjamin Franklin, the minister from the "colonies," who kindly recommends that he emigrate to America. When Paine, who tells Franklin that he "writes a little," comes to Philadelphia, he haltingly finds his true talent at last: as a propagandist. As the colonies hurtle towards revolution, it is Paine who roars the truth in his little pamphlets, giving courage and meaning to the efforts of the rebels.

For the first time in his life, this shambling, lonely, often drunk man is truly alive. Encouraging, exhorting, burning with anger and determination, Paine plays his vital role without thought of personal gain or a plan for the future. Before reading this novel, I hadn't realized how powerful the Tory forces were in America, especially in Philadelphia, nor how many folks simply sat on the sidelines during the war, wishing the whole mess would just go away. At the war's lowest point, Congress hightails it out of Philadelphia (then the capital) and begins talk of sacking George Washington.

Paine took personal responsibility for saving Philadelphia (the capital) from a Tory takeover, an action that may well have saved the country--but at the cost of making powerful enemies. Paine's passion and sacrifice for the cause sets the stage for the tragic second act of the book. Now a throughly committed revolutionary, Paine doesn't know what to do with himself after the American Revolution comes to an end.

He is once again a wanderer, but now he has a reputation to uphold. The only real satisfaction he can find is as a revolutionist, on the run from the authorities. He returns to England and tries to spark an uprising there. Eventually, disillusionment sets in. Paine learns that his desire to change the world is not enough.

Paine then becomes caught up in the French Revolution and is lucky to escape with his head. Falsely accused of atheism for some of his writings in France, Paine lives out his remaining years in America, despised by the very country he helped to create.

While not a jolly tale, Citizen Tom Paine is a compelling, gripping read. Fast himself was a radical, but this novel is no propaganda piece for radical politics. Instead, Fast examines with clear eyes and a compassionate heart the tragedy that befalls a creative man who can't be content with the temporizing and sorry realities of everyday life. This is a timeless story of idealism, its triumphs, and its limitations.

Let's play word association. Thomas Paine. Did you say Common Sense? So did I. In fact, that's about all I knew of Paine before picking up Howard Fast's piece of historical fiction about the revolutionary. It's not surprising that this should be what Paine is best remembered for. The "small book" appears to have been a bigger hit than the Da Vinci Code and was read by people across the intellectual spectrum. Paine became known to American soldiers and militiamen as "Common Sense". Paine was perhaps America's first motivational speaker.

There is more to Paine than Common Sense, however, and Howard Fast does a marvelous job leading us up to the point that Paine writes his masterpiece and beyond to his eventual demise and ridicule until his death. Along the way, Paine wrote a series of "Crisis" papers that picked up where Common Sense left off and re-inspired discouraged fighters. It is to Paine that we owe the line "these are the times that try men's souls." Paine later tried to become a revolution mercenary, trying his hand (unsuccessfully) in England and (arguably more successfully) in France. He was so well received in France that he became a deputy to the National Assembly.

A better historian -- or high school student -- would probably already know all of this about Paine. If you fall into that category, Citizen Tom Paine may be a waste of time. But if your knowledge of this gruff, intelligent, less-than-handsome revolutionary is as shallow as mine was, Citizen Tom Paine is a worthwhile read that has become a classic piece of historical fiction.

First of all I found this book a pleasure to read. Howard Fast is an amazing writer. Reading the book I found myself carried back to the time of the revolution. Not only do you follow Tom Paine around, but you get peeks at Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and Napoleon. Reading a historical novel like this shows these historical figures as real people - brings them to life just as if they lived in your neighborhood. True, they are fictionalized but it seems that the author did his best to conform to the known facts. I have tried a number of writers of historical fiction and find that Howard Fast is among the best. What a pleasant way to become acquainted with history!

Howard Fast, as a part of a series on the American revolution, has written an interesting historical novel based on the exploits of the famous English-born American Revolutionary hero, Tom Paine. Thomas Paine is probably most well-known for his pamphlet COMMON SENSE which did much to galvanize the lower classes in American to support, even if haphazardly, the fight for independence. In fact, the part of the book concerning the distribution of the pamphlet is its most interesting part. If you like drama, history and an engaging, if sullen and unkempt, character this book is for you.

If Leon Trotsky was considered by many to be the "prince of pamphleteers" for his efforts on behalf of the Russian Revolution and socialism then Tom Paine can rightly be regarded as the "prince of pamphleteers" for his efforts on behalf of the American and French Revolutions (and its offshoot- the pro-revolutionary English radical movement of the 1790's) and plebian democracy.

Tom Paine, like many important revolutionaries in their time, had an impact on more than one revolutionary movement and therefore justly earned for himself an honored place in plebian democratic history much to the chagrin of some later historians of these movements. In an age when sales of printed matter were small his tracts sold in the hundreds of thousands and those purchases were not merely for the coffee table at a time when money was dear. That alone helps defines the impact of his work.

Tom Paine, like other revolutionary leaders, has suffered through the ups and downs of reputation depending on the times. His Age of Reason, the consummate tract in defense of 18th century popular deism, led to a steep decline in his reputation for most of the 19th century, an age in America of religious piety. Even the revolutionary abolitionist John Brown was driven by a religious furor. Paine has fared better lately, in an age that is much more secular and which is not shocked by deist conclusions. Paine also comes in handy as an ally when democratic rights are, like now, under full-scale attack in the name of the `war on terrorism'. Let me conclude by saying this, if a closet-Tory like Founding Father John Adams can look pretty damn good in comparison to today's bourgeois politicians then Tom Paine can rightly take his place as a Founder in the pantheon of revolutionary heroes.

Howard Fast had a gift for historical fiction - particularly for weaving real people and events into politically charged narratives that are vibrant and thought-provoking. Fast's main character here, Citizen Tom Paine (was Fast playing off the title of Citizen Kane?), comes across as an idealistic firebrand incapable of living a "normal" life, at least not without large quantities of alcohol. For the price of admission, the reader gets a look at both the Revolutionary War and the French Revolution. It's worth a read.

A poor and mostly self educated man
Tom Paine was a strange literary figure out of the American Revolutionary era.
He wrote several very popular books and essays that gave energy
to the struggle against England. He also tried to carry his ideas to Europe
and as a result had his health ruined by a stay in a French prison
and just survived with his neck intact from the terror period of that revolution.
He came home to America to find the winds of change had
cursed his name yet again.
He was a drunkard and used the drunken rage to fuel his
writing at times, but his set of books and essays
survives and puts him in the category of great political writers
of history. There is little doubt the "Common Sense"
was an influence on the fathers of the United States
in the formative era.
This novel seems to be an honest effort to put the man into prospective
and seems well researched as well.
Tom Paine sought to be treated fairly:
to make a world where all man had a fair chance.

Written very welland enjoyable to read. A must read for those interested in hisory.