The Trouble with Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine
Dec 2010 · A&C Black
Ebook
288
Pages
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
A typical book about a major historical figure doesn't start at a gay piano bar and almost end in a drainage ditch. But then, Tom Paine wasn't a typical historical figure...
'A genre-bending spellbinder' Newsday
'Collins elucidates, with great compassion, what it means to be "normal" and what it means to be human' LA Times
The author of Common Sense and The Rights of Man, a radical on the run from the law in London, a founding father of the United States of America, a senator of revolutionary France, Thomas Paine alone claims a key role in the development of three modern democracies.
He was a walking revolution in human form - the most dangerous man alive. But in death Paine's story turns truly bizarre - his bones were taken from New York to London and eventually disappeared.
In Paris, London and New York, in bars, grocers, shops and national libraries, crossing paths along the way with, among others, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, William Cobbett, Walt Whitman, Charles Darwin and even Lord Bryon, Paul Collins sets himself the challenge of finding out what happened to Paine's bones, and ends up telling one of the most extraordinary stories of modern history.
'A genre-bending spellbinder' Newsday
'Collins elucidates, with great compassion, what it means to be "normal" and what it means to be human' LA Times
The author of Common Sense and The Rights of Man, a radical on the run from the law in London, a founding father of the United States of America, a senator of revolutionary France, Thomas Paine alone claims a key role in the development of three modern democracies.
He was a walking revolution in human form - the most dangerous man alive. But in death Paine's story turns truly bizarre - his bones were taken from New York to London and eventually disappeared.
In Paris, London and New York, in bars, grocers, shops and national libraries, crossing paths along the way with, among others, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, William Cobbett, Walt Whitman, Charles Darwin and even Lord Bryon, Paul Collins sets himself the challenge of finding out what happened to Paine's bones, and ends up telling one of the most extraordinary stories of modern history.
About the author
Paul Collins is the author of Sixpence House and Not Even Wrong: A Father's Journey into the Lost History of Autism. He edits the Collins Library for McSweeney's Books, and his work has appeared in New Scientist, the Village Voice, and Business 2.0.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
