The Trouble with Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine

By Paul Collins

A typical book about a major historical figure doesn't start at a gay piano bar and almost end in a drainage ditch. But then, Tom Paine wasn't a typical historical figure...

'A genre-bending spellbinder' Newsday

'Collins elucidates, with great compassion, what it means to be "normal" and what it means to be human' LA Times

The author of Common Sense and The Rights of Man, a radical on the run from the law in London, a founding father of the United States of America, a senator of revolutionary France, Thomas Paine alone claims a key role in the development of three modern democracies.

He was a walking revolution in human form - the most dangerous man alive. But in death Paine's story turns truly bizarre - his bones were taken from New York to London and eventually disappeared.

In Paris, London and New York, in bars, grocers, shops and national libraries, crossing paths along the way with, among others, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, William Cobbett, Walt Whitman, Charles Darwin and even Lord Bryon, Paul Collins sets himself the challenge of finding out what happened to Paine's bones, and ends up telling one of the most extraordinary stories of modern history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Dec 15, 2010
• ISBN: 9781408820636

Reviews for The Trouble with Tom

[juglicerr · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This very readable book put me in mind of James Burke's wonderful Connections, but centers around the mortal remains and intellectual legacy of Thomas Paine. I love the usual sort of history, but these "diagonal" journeys, going off in strange directions, really help pull history together and illuminate the oddities that are usually left out. Whether or not we arrive at any definite place, the trip is well worth it. Looking at history as a purposeful march from there to here leaves out so many fascinating might-have-beens. We so often end up looking at earlier times merely as a prelude to ours, not seeing the perspective of earler generations as their chaotic, multi-sided struggle for their own present and future.This is not for everyone: I find that many of my favorite books are lambasted by reviewers outraged that the author has not given us a clear and definitive answer to the identity of Shakespeare or Perkin Warbeck, the guilt of Lizzie Borden, the fate of the Princes in the Tower, but rather has tossed about ideas and possibilities. Perhaps it is too scary to contemplate that there may never be a final answers. This is not a biography of Paine, it begins with his final, ailing years and death. It is not for those who want a crisp, linear narrative.Paul Collins jumps between past and present as he tracks his subjects. This is a risky strategy, and I was often surprised to find myself in another era. On the whole, I think it worked very well - it created a vivid impression of the layers of history and the disappearance of the past. In some ways, it is a metaphor for history writing: conjuring what no longer exists.Collins moves around England and America trying to resolve the mystery of the fate of Paine's body. At the same time, he traces Paine as seen by later generations: the "author" of a posthumous autobiography, whose publisher employed John Brown before he went to Kansas and thence to Harper's Ferry. Along the way, Collins tells us about formerly famous people who are at best footnotes in our time; the invention of the indoor toilet; the function of the rag-and-bone man; a corpse as property; and a great deal about phrenology. This last topic is developed sympathetically at great length, stressing its original purpose as an aid to self-improvement.The reader who is not familiar with Paine should at least read a good encyclopedia article, but a full biography is probably not necesary.A mind-bending and thought-provoking book. The book is not really scholarly, that is, discussions of ideologies are informative but not in depth. In lieu of a bibliography or notes, the author has sections discussing the sources for each chapter, often imparting more fascinating tidbits along the way. An index would have been nice.For those who like the juggling of ideas and possibilities, I recommend Who Wrote Shakespeare? by John F. Michell, The Perfect Prince by Anne Wroe, Forty Whacks by David Kent and Royal Blood by Bertram Fields.

[sgerbic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

With cleverly titled chapters, "Here" "There" and "Everywhere" Collins takes us back and forth. America to England to America searching for Paine's bones. This story is as much about Paine but about the people who were inspired to search for Paine's bones. A far more interesting tale when told by Collins. This book is best read in one sitting not piecemeal as I have done. Collins jumps back and forth so much in places an time a reader could easily become confused where they were last time.The history following Pine's death of America and England is so much more than emancipation , Lincoln and Civil War. Phrenology, birth control, women's rights, death/debt practices, relics, mediums, publishing....wow so interesting.The people involved E.B. Foote, Fowler, Cobbett and Conway plus all the authors that they hung out with are much more interesting when related in this book than a normal history work. This book reads like a Forrest Gump movie, Charles Darwin, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Thoreau, and on and on. 14-2008