Contents: 1. Use Preview To See Table of Contents Inside Also available: The Complete Harvard Classics Collection (51 Volumes + The Harvard Classic Shelf Of Fiction) 50 Masterpieces You Have To Read Before You Die (Golden Deer Classics)

In January of 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense; the book inflamed its readers and ignited the American Revolution. In truth the fires of dissent were already smoldering, but Paine's impassioned writing gave focus to the many disparate voices and united a country. One cannot over estimate the importance of this book in shaping the destiny of United States of America, as it was here that our constitutional form of government was first suggested.

The opinion universally entertained of the extraordinary abilities of Thomas Jefferson, and the signal evidence given by his country, of a profound sense of his patriotic services, and of veneration for his memory, have induced the Editor, who is both his Executor and the Legatee of his Manuscript Papers, to believe that an extensive publication from them would be particularly acceptable to the American people. The Memoir, contained in the first volume, commences with circumstantial notice...

The classic biography by John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. According to Wikipedia: "George Washington (February 22, 1732 [O.S. February 11, 1731 December 14, 1799) served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and as the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783. Because of his significant role in the revolution and in the formation of the United States, he is often revered by Americans as the "Father of Ou...

Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously on January 10, 1776, during the American Revolution. Common Sense presented the American colonists with an argument for independence from British rule at a time when the question of independence was still undecided. Paine wrote and reasoned in a style that common people understood; forgoing the philosophy and Latin references used by Enlightenment era writers, Paine structured Common Sense like a sermon...

Mercy Warren wrote early drafts of this 1300+ page book near the time of the events described. Mercy writes in the third person even when dealing with events involving her immediate family. James Otis (early advocate of the rights of the colonies) was her brother, and James Warren (speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives) was her husband. She was a close friend of John Adams, but differed sharply with his policies as President. In the wake of the French Revolution, Adams lost...

The fifty-six signers of America's Declaration of Independence risked their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” to found a new country. In this clazzic work, Benson J. Lossing describes the lives of each of the founding fathers, their greatest achievements, and what impelled them to take such an incredible risk. While some are well known to us – Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock – much of the pleasure in this book comes from reading about the lesser-known signers, and about...

The classic five-volume biography by John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, plus the two-volume biography by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, plus the one-volume biography by Thayer. According to Wikipedia: "George Washington (February 22, 1732 [O.S. February 11, 1731 – December 14, 1799) served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and as the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783. Because of his significant role...

Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously on January 10, 1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution. Common Sense was signed "Written by an Englishman", and it became an immediate success. In relative proportion to the population of the colonies at that time, 2.5 million Americans, it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history. Common Sense presented the American colonists with an argum...

Letters, speeches, and other documents on democracy and liberty written by the third U.S. president and coauthor of the Declaration of Independence.Thomas Jefferson is most famous for the writing of the Declaration of Independence, which espouses the general principles of freedom and democracy that Americans hold dear. Now, collected here for the first time, is this historical American document, as well as several of his other famous writings. Included in this book...