RIGHTS OF MAN

Paine's book-length essay in political philosophy is primarily a polemic aimed at Edmund Burke's 1790 REFLECTIONS ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, which criticized that revolt as savage and illegal. David Rintoul narrates it as a polemic, sounding by turns coldly angry, cuttingly sarcastic, and excitedly partisan, as well as reasonable when Paine expresses his approval of the revolutions in America and France. Paine's elegantly clear writing, though aimed at the common man, demands thought and attention; Rintoul's precise, animated, articulate reading helps the listener follow it. Though Paine was wrong about the nature of the French Revolution and the incorruptibility of republics, his ideas about the rights and freedoms of citizens are still germane—and still radical. Rintoul delivers them with intelligent passion. W.M. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2008]