Ayn Rand

A vivid and concise biography packed with stunning, rarely seen photos of one of the 20th century's most popular and influential novelists - 'a writer of great power...a subtle and ingenious mind and the capacity of writing beautifully' (The New York Times) Ayn Rand made a profound impact as both a philosopher who founded a school of social thought, Objectivism, and as a novelist of penetrating insight and vision. Her novels are founded on heroic ideals, demonstrating her famous maxim (from which she drew the title of her most widely-known book) that, 'man's ego is the fountainhead of human progress.' The photos and illustrations in this volume have been hand-selected from the Ayn Rand Archives, and most have never been published. They include personal mementos of a Petersburg childhood, photos of the schools Rand attended, her family and their home on Nevsky prospect, from where she witnessed the first shots of the revolution in 1917; Rand's Soviet passport, photos from her exile in Berlin and her early years in America as an extra and then screenwriter in Hollywood; personal papers, including Rand's list of the twelve publishers who passed on The Fountainhead; original newspaper articles, first edition book jackets, film posters, notes, drawings, and many others.