The traditional structure of a review isn't quite useful when reflecting on my experience with Common Sense. Questions like did I enjoy the book or would I recommend it aren't all that relevant because it's primarily a historical moment. While the text is a political pamphlet attempting to persuade the reader questions like did I agree with Paine's argument seem somewhat relevant but the incredibly removed historical context what Paine was arguing was pretty irrelevant to me. I did find Common Sense a useful document in understanding the political climate of pre-revolutionary British North America. From our point in history, we tend to see all acts in history as inevitable and lose the scope of how radical events were for the time. Reading Paine argue against the system of the monarchy with the context that the vast majority of his world saw monarchical governance as natural as the sky being blue gives me a deeper understanding of the period

Paine himself was also a fascinating rhetorician. The ways he structures arguments are persuasive and compelling because he appeals to an idea of common sense rather than structuring complex inaccessible philosophy. His writing style is readable which isn't a given for 18th-century writers and never seems overly world. I do think his appeals to the bible as a justification for his beliefs barely moved me because I'm an atheist so apples to "the Bible says that..." have little to no meaning to me but 

The Broadview edition on the while is well-constructed Editor Edward Larkin's introduction gave amazing historical context to Common Sense as a work and analysis of Paine's style. The book has fantastic footnotes throughout providing the historical and biblical context to the writer's words. The edition also induces responses and parallel text to Paine's work that was published around the time of COmmon Sens's publication and direct responses to Paine that further expanded my understanding of the political discourse at the time

In conclusion, while I can't sawer if I liked common sense r if I recommend it was certainly useful and this specific edition of the text did a fantastic job of making the reading experience more engaging and complete.