Ayn Rand's novels The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957) manifest a development of her own philosophy of Objectivism, which challenged conventional values by emphasizing laissez-faire capitalism, individualism, and opposition to altruism. After her novels, Rand promoted Objectivism in several works of nonfiction and three periodicals during the 1960s and 1970s. Though it developed into a movement, Objectivism was eventually undermined by personal conflicts between Rand and her followers. Still, in the time since her death in 1982, her books continue to sell and inspire admiration and even devotion or conversion to her philosophy or "sense of life," as she called it.

Ayn Rand was born Alice (Alysia) Rosenbaum on 2 February 1905, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her father, Franz Rosenbaum, was a faculty member in the chemistry department at the local university. Rand's mother, Anna Rosenbaum, cared for the house and entertained frequently. Rand, who felt that her father was indifferent to...