Drawing on unprecedented access to Ayn Rand''s private papers and original, unedited journals, Burns offers a groundbreaking reassessment of this key cultural figure, examining her life, her ideas, and her impact on conservative political thought.
Annotation:
Historian Jennifer Burns provides a compelling look at the life, times, writing, philosophy, and cultural impact of Ayn Rand, the fiercely intelligent Russian immigrant whose books ATLAS SHRUGGED and THE FOUNTAINHEAD argued vehemently for the importance of "selfish" action and warned against the dangers of big government in which even altruistic motives could lead to totalitarianism. Though for many conservatives, Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism, with its love of individual rights and the free market, is a touchstone, Burns shows how the relationship between Rand and conservatism was complicated by Rand's disdain of religion and traditional moral values.
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