In 1964, the Thomas Paine Society UK foundation was founded with a goal of promoting a better understanding of the man and his work. The Thomas Paine Society UK became the premier Thomas Paine historical society in the UK. In 2025, the Thomas Paine National Historical Association merged with the Thomas Paine Society UK to form the internationally-focused Thomas Paine Historical Association. This is the 1997 Number 3 Volume 3 edition of the Thomas Paine Society UK Bulletin, published from 1965 to 2013.
Some time ago, being aware of the approach of the 200 anniversary of the publication of Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man, I thought of various ways I could do to arouse interest in Paine and his most enduring and famous work and the republican ideals he espoused.
Although Thomas Paine is best known for his role as a revolutionary, political and social reformer and biblical critic, like many of his circle of friends and acquaintances he had a passionate interest in science, or, as it was then termed, natural philosophy.
Moncure Daniel Conway is owed a debt by all those who admire Thomas Paine, for it was Conway who first put him on the biographical map by compiling a comprehensive biography which at one stroke made all previous works of a similar character.
