He was the premiere political "blogger" of his day, a man Thomas Edison called "one of the greatest of all Americans," and one today's liberals and progressives still claim as their intellectual forefather. Here, in one volume, are 16 pamphlets Paine wrote between 1776 and 1783 to boost the morale of the Continental Army and of civilians dispirited by war and privation. With these incendiary essays, he brought a common voice to the struggle for freedom from tyranny that still resonates today. It is impossible to overstate Paine's influence as an idealist, a radical, and a master rhetorician had in the creation of America. Anglo-American political theorist and writer THOMAS PAINE (1737-1809) was born in England and emigrated to America in 1774, bearing letters of introduction from Benjamin Franklin. He also wrote Common Sense (1776) and Rights of Man (1791)