Another radical English thinker - Thomas Paine.

Thomas Paine (1738-1809) was born in Thetford in Suffolk. The son of a corset-maker despite this inauspicious start in life this didn't stop his 'mind developing' - his writings lit the fuse of the American Revolution and played a part in the French Revolution. His seminal book Rights of Man published in England in 1791 has often been used by freedom fighters down the ages as the touchstone for a new world order - based on equality for all. He loathed those in positions power but with little morality. His particular anger was aimed at King George III who he perceived as only having his role is society due to the outdated historical farce of primogeniture. His prose were forthright and a critique of the British government of the day and were considered by those in power as dangerous and even seditious. He was tried in his absence at the Guildhall in London and found guilty. Had he been captured it would have meant his execution. All this can been seen in another excellent programme on BBC Two Melvyn Bragg's Radical Lives