Thomas Paine (1737-1809), widely considered an American Founding Father, is best known as the author of Common Sense and Rights of Man, which played a crucial role in galvanizing public support for independence and the revolutionary cause. The General Editor of this edition and author of the General Introduction here, Gregory Claeys, is professor emeritus of the history of political thought at Royal Holloway, University of London. His books include Thomas Paine: Social and Political Thought and Utopianism for a Dying Planet: Life After Consumerism (Princeton). His coeditors are Marc Belissa, Gary Berton, Yannick Bosc, Scott Cleary, and Carine Lounissi.