If you read between the lines of this juvenile biography of "Thomas Paine: Political Writer," then you will learn not only that his pamphlet "Common Sense" was the spark that propelled the declaration of American independence, but that throughout his life his writing made a lot of people very angry. Bruce and Becky Durost Fish fill in a lot of the gaps in the life of young Thomas Paine with suppositions about what it was like growing up in England at that time. We really do not get a sense for how Paine became the man he did, capable of writing the single most important pamphlet in American History. I am not sure if this is because of the delicacy of the subject matter or because they writing level on this particular book is geared lower than others in this series. There is certainly something to the idea that Paine was light the nova of the time, who suddenly burst on the scene with the words that swung the momentum irrevocably towards independence and separation from Great Britain. Young readers will learn about the ups and downs on Paine's life, which at one point saw him flee from political foes in the United States, charged with treason by the British government, and imprisoned by the fanatical leaders of the French Revolution. It is rather astounding that Paine would end up dying an old man in his bed given the antagonism he provoked in so many people.

I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Paine's writing actually make it into this book; his rhetoric is usually reduced to a few choice sentences, as it is here. Even when the famous opening of "The American Crisis" is quoted, we get only the first clause and not even the entire sentence. This matters because with Thomas Paine what he wrote was so much more important than anything else he ever did in his life. Of course, like the Declaration of Independence, "Common Sense" and "The American Crisis" are honored today with very few people ever bothering to read them in their entirety. This book is illustrated with historic paintings and engravings, some of which are of Paine, as well as a reproduction of the frontispiece of "Common Sense." Other titles in the Revolutionary War Leaders series include Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Paul Jones, and George Washington. While Benjamin Franklin is included in the related Colonial Leaders series, I want to note that John Adams is regrettably missing from both.

Well written but gets boring reading the same old rehash warmed over with a different person's opinions. Nothing new here, I'm afraid, just a repeat.