"The Ideas of Ayn Rand" tells of Ayn Rand (1905-1982), who is best-known for her blockbuster novels, "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged". In the 1960s her "Objectivist" ideas, featuring laissez-faire capitalism, atheism, "the virtue of selfishness", and aesthetic romanticism, were promoted in an organized movement, which split apart following Rand's falling-out with protege Nathaniel Branden. Despite this debacle, she continues to attract readers and to exert a major, if largely subterranean, influence on thinking and policy. Recent works on Rand have focussed on the details of her biography: her struggle as a refugee from Soviet Russia to become a literary success in the US, her career as a Hollywood screen writer, and her tortured private life. "The Ideas of Ayn Rand" offers an examination of the development of Rand's thought, with the events of her life presented as necessary background. Dr Merrill's standpoint is neither hostile nor uncritical. He gives a detailed analysis of all Rand's important fiction works, illustrating the development of her writing technique.
He demonstrates the influence of Nietzsche upon Rand's early thought, and her subsequent, not entirely candid attempts to deny that influence. The author aims to give a fresh interpretation of Rand's views on metaphysics and ethics, and a critical account of her political activities.