Wednesday, September 23, 2026
06:00pm - 08:00pm

Central Minnesota Freethinkers
At our meeting on September 23, 2026 we will discuss the book:

# Thomas Paine and the Promise of America: A History & Biography

Harvey J. Kaye
Copyright: 2005
Pages: 262

Thomas Paine was one of the most remarkable political writers of the modern world and the greatest radical of a radical age. Through writings like Common Sense―and words such as "The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth," "We have it in our power to begin the world over again," and "These are the times that try men's souls"―he not only turned America's colonial rebellion into a revolutionary war but, as Harvey J. Kaye demonstrates, articulated an American identity charged with exceptional purpose and promise.

**Harvey J. Kaye**
Harvey J. Kaye is Professor Emeritus of Democracy and Justice Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. An award-winning author, Kaye has published eighteen books on history, politics, and ideas, contributed articles and essays to a diverse array of publications, including the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Daily Beast, Salon.com, and Huffington Post, and appeared as a guest on numerous television, radio and podcast programs, including Bill Moyers Journal, BookTV's After Words, Rising on HillTVLive, The Young Turks, The Thom Hartmann Show, Majority Report, The Michael Brooks Show….
Born in New Jersey, Kaye received his B.A. at Rutgers (1971), his M.A. at the University of London (1973), and his Ph.D. at Louisiana State University (1976). He is a member of the AFT and an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer (2007-2013). Kaye lives with his wife Lorna in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where they avidly support the fan owned Green Bay Packers. His most recent books are FDR ON DEMOCRACY, TAKE HOLD OF OUR HISTORY: MAKE AMERICA RADICAL AGAIN, and a new edition of his very first book - THE BRITISH MARXIST HISTORIANS - which includes a memoir of experiences with E.P. Thompson, Eric Hobsbawm, Christopher Hill, and Rodney Hilton.