Challenging the institutionalized religion and legitimacy of the Bible, The Age of Reason was Paine’s years of study and reflection on the role of religion in society. His arguments had long been available to the educated elite, but by presenting them in an engaging and irreverent style, he made deism appealing and accessible to the masses. Originally distributed as unbound pamphlets, the book was cheap in order to put it within the reach of a large number of buyers. Fearing the spread of what were potentially revolutionary ideas, the British government prosecuted printers and booksellers who were associated with its publication and reach. However, even through that, The Age of Reason surpassed the boundaries of the religious agendas throughout the world at the dawn of the nineteenth century, and its resonance remains undiminished by time. About the Author: Thomas Paine (born 29 January 1737, Thetford, Norfolk, England—died 8 June 1809, New York, U.S.) was an English-born American writer, political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary whose Common Sense pamphlet and Crisis papers were important influences on the American Revolution and helped inspire the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain, hitherto an unpopular cause. He is seen by many as a key figure in the emergence of claims for the state’s responsibilities for welfare and educational provision, and his Age of Reason provided a popular deist text that remained influential throughout the nineteenth century. In his own lifetime, and subsequently, he has been extensively vilified and often dismissed. Yet, many of his ideas still command wide interest and enthusiasm in readers throughout the world.