Thomas Paine  (1736-1809)

         Author of various works, most notably those that
         influenced America's independence. In 1775 his
         bestseller, Common Sense, launched widespread,
         public debate over American independence from Britain.
         In a series of widely reprinted newspaper articles titled
         the Forester's Letters, Paine debated those advocating
         reconciliation and helped decide the debate in favor of
         separation/revolution. During the long, weary, and
         often bleak war that ensued, Paine helped lift Americans'
         spirits, fortify their resolve, and give them a vision of
         who they were and what they were fighting for.
         General Washington commanded that Paine's writings,
         titled The American Crisis, be read to all troops.
        

Claeys, Gregory (1989). Thomas Paine: Social and Political Thought. Boston: Unwin Hyman.

Foner, Eric (1976). Tom Paine and Revolutionary America. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hogan, J. Michael & Williams, Glen (2000). Republican Charisma and the American Revolution:
The Textual Persona of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense." Quarterly Journal of Speech, vol. 86,
pp. 1-18.

Hogan, J. Michael & Williams, L. Glen (1996). Defining 'the Enemy' in Revolutionary America:
From the Rhetoric of Protest to the Rhetoric of War. Southern Communication Journal, vol. 61,
pp. 277-88.

Keane, John (1995).  Tom Paine: A Political Life. New York: Little, Brown & Co.

Lucas, Stephen E. (1976). Portents of Rebellion: Rhetoric and Revolution in Philadelphia, 1765-1776.
Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Note:  Primary documents are widely available, but I recommend the volume published by the Library of America (1995) titled:  Thomas Paine: Collected Writings. The volume contains all of Paine's major works. Eric Foner did a superb job collecting the texts and providing notes.