Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right

"Ayn Rand has always been a difficult figure to fit into the history of conservatism, but surely she mattered – and matters still. This important and beautifully written book shows how. Seamlessly linking Rand's operatic personal life with her political ideals and influence of those ideas, this is biography, intellectual history, and political genealogy that gets the story right, told with drama, skill, and insight."

- Paula Baker, Ohio State University

Worshipped by her fans, denounced by her enemies, and forever shadowed by controversy and scandal, the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand was a powerful thinker whose views on government and markets shaped the conservative movement from its earliest days. Drawing on unprecedented access to Rand’s private papers and the original, unedited versions of Rand’s journals, Jennifer Burns offers a groundbreaking reassessment of this key cultural figure, examining her life, her ideas, and her impact on conservative political thought.

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