It’s the 200th anniversary of the death of Thomas Paine, my hometown’s most famous and important son. Paine was actively involved in both the American and French revolutions and, through his pamphleteering and his major works Common Sense, Rights of Man and The Age of Reason, drove the radical challenge to the 18th century order which has shaped the democracies of the modern world.

It’s the 200th anniversary of the death of Thomas Paine, my hometown’s most famous and important son.

Paine was actively involved in both the American and French revolutions and, through his pamphleteering and his major works Common Sense, Rights of Man and The Age of Reason, drove the radical challenge to the 18th century order which has shaped the democracies of the modern world.