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Was history this interesting in high school?

August 19th, 2006 Sarah - Alicia Ashman

When I come across fantastic history books like Paul Collins’s recent The Trouble with Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine, my first thought is always: “Where was I during school when they were teaching this stuff?”

Well, evidently I was daydreaming, and it was my loss.  Thankfully Collins has come along to try and rectify my complete lack of knowledge of both American history and Thomas Paine, and he’s done so in a completely strange and wonderful travelogue. 

Evidently Paine, in addition to writing the revolutionary political treatise Common Sense, was a man who inspired strange loyalties; so much so that one of his admirers actually exhumed his skeleton and carried it back with him to England to be re-buried and memorialized there.  Fast forward a couple of hundred years, and you have Paul Collins, doggedly following the historical trail of Paine’s earthly remains from continent to continent, ruminating on history, biography, and personal obsession along the way. 

It’s such a fun read that you may not even notice that it’s also educational.  But don’t worry…we won’t test you on it.

Entry Filed under: Nonfiction