Ayn Rand & Atlas Shrugged

Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

"Government ‘help’ to business is just as disastrous as government persecution... the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off.” – Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia to Jewish parents on February 2, 1905 as Alisa Zinov''yevna Rosenbaum, and she lived through the turbulence and transformation of early 20th century Russia.  Her first exposure to reading came after she taught herself how to read at age six, and she decided at nine years old to become a writer after a chance encounter with the books of Victor Hugo, the writer she admired most. 

The seminal events in the young would-be writer’s life came just a few years later, when she witnessed firsthand the Bolshevik Revolution and the ultimate Communist victory as a teenager. Rand’s experience with the maelstrom of this revolutionary zeal and cultural breakdown greatly contributed toward the formation of Rand’s philosophy of objectivism, individualism and anti-religious ideas. During her last year of high school, she was introduced to the history of the United States and immediately decided to make America her model of what an ideal society should look like. Rand came to the United States as a young woman for a visit in 1925, and, as fate would have it, she never returned to Russia. 

In middle age, Rand continued trying to write in some capacity as a profession, but she had also formed her personal philosophy of integrating ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, politics, economics, and sexuality into what came to be called Objectivism, or as she called it, “a philosophy for living on earth.” Rand began writing Atlas Shrugged, her enormous three part major novel, each with ten chapters, in 1946.  Nearly 10 years after it was begun she finished what ultimately became her greatest achievement, and she poignantly dramatized her unique philosophy.

Though Atlas Shrugged had been a popular title when Ayn Rand published it in 1957, it’s quite possible that the only reference to it that many Americans heard before 2009 came from the hit series Mad Men. However, this staple of conservative and libertarian reader took on new life as the new Obama Administration sought to use government resources to fix financial problems. In 2009, with the global economy hemorrhaging jobs, and Western governments pouring hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money to “bail out” troubled financial firms and large companies, frustrated people and political analysts turned to a book written over 50 years earlier as a guide out of the abyss.

Conservative politicians like Ron Paul (who named his son after Rand) and commentators like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh publicly praised Rand and her works, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas labeled Atlas Shrugged one of his favorite novels. By January 2009, one article in the Wall Street Journal was titled, “"Atlas Shrugged From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years". Over the last few years, Rand has become a household name and her works have seen their sales spike. Rand and her work are now some of the most influential and relevant works in America today.

Ayn Rand & Atlas Shrugged chronicles the life, ideology and writings of the most famous Libertarian writer, examining her work and her enduring legacy. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Ayn Rand and her magnum opus like you never have before, in no time at all.