For any fans of Thomas Paine, or my first book Uncommon Sense, I highly recommend a listen to Melvyn Bragg’s excellent coverage of Paine’s world-changing book “Common Sense,” published in 1776. This 48-page publication was responsible for solidifying that which began as a tax protest into the American Revolution for independence. It also helped trigger the French Revolution and set the stage for the world’s first nation states. It was the best-selling book of the 18th century and, were sales scaled up to today’s population, they would have achieved 150 million. It is an amazing story.
LISTEN HERE:  Thomas Paine’s Common Sense – originally broadcast “In Our Time” on Radio 4 by Melvyn Bragg 21 Jan, 2015
 
 
My own book was originally titled in tribute to Thomas Paine and recently republished in 2014, retitled The State Is Out Of Date, We Can Do It Better