This book is about Thomas Paine’s role and writings during 1776, how he helped Americans by offering ideas to help them found a new nation, and how he and George Washington built a productive partnership–one a man with his sword and the other a pen–to finish the revolutionary year with a surprising American victory the day after Christmas at the Battle of Trenton. The book probes some long-told stories and myths about the role Paine played during the Crossing of the Delaware and tries to set the record straight about his contributions. Excerpts of his pamphlets Common Sense and the American Crisis 1 are included in this brief history of the times that tried men’s souls.