TOM PAINE (1737 - 1809)

Born the son of a Thetford corset-maker, Paine, through his life and writings played a significant part in the development of the modern world.

He was a man who from an early age recognised injustice and challenged authority. He sought to redress grievances and gave voice to the aspirations of the ordinary man.

Paine was actively involved in both the American and French Revolutions and through his pamphleteering and his major works Common Sense, Rights of Man and The Age of Reason drove the radical challenge to the eighteenth century order which has shaped the democracies of the modern world.

Tom Paine deserves to be celebrated as one of the fathers of the British Way of life and - for the bi-centenary of his death in 2009 - Thetford is planning a six-month festival of events to do just this.

The festival will celebrate Paine's ideas and their impact on the future, but it also seeks to create their context - the vivid contrasts of eighteenth century life as it would have been experienced by Paine's fellow townsmen and women.

As inclusive as the eighteenth century, the Celebrations have something for everyone, exploring history, politics and the arts, offering popular entertainment as well as intellectual satisfaction, engaging the young and the old, the visitor and the local resident alike as we discover the Man, the Place and the Age.