Book Review: Atlas Shrugged © January 6, 2001, Rod D. Martin Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, Leonard Peikoff (Introduction) One of the Greatest Masterpieces of Modern Times Ayn Rand believed passionately in freedom, and nothing expresses why with the power or to the degree that does Atlas Shrugged. Originally titled The Strike, this "very long essay masquerading as a very long novel" (in the words of Morton Blackwell) chronicles the voluntary withdrawal from society of the inventive, entreprenureal class in the face of growing collectivism, and the societal collapse that results. While Rand wrote at mid-century, readers who lived through the following fifty years will appreciate just how insightful she was, and the haunting parallels to life in the East Bloc, socialist Western Europe, and our own United States. Atlas Shrugged makes the most compelling case for economic and political freedom you will likely ever read. Few books have ever had such influence, and the book loses nothing with age. Nevertheless, the reader must understand up front that Rand was more than a libertarian, and that her cultic "Objectivism" was far more than a philosophy. Much more of Atlas Shrugged than not (and far more of libertarianism than not) is consistent with Christian thought; but the Christian reader must pay close attention to Rand's more seductive passages (and would do well to analyze closely John Galt's 60-page [!] speech at the end), because some of her thoughts are not what they appear to the less astute reader, and her philosophy is militantly (hostilly) atheistic. Even so, this is a masterpiece of freedom, and simply must be read and appreciated. There is nothing like it. Author Archive | Contact Rod Martin -- Rod D. Martin is Founder and Chairman of TheVanguard.Org, America's conservative movement online. A writer, speaker and technology entrepreneur, he is a noted futurist and advocate for liberty who serves as Chairman of the Arlington Group's National Security Team, on the Board of Governors of the Council for National Policy, and as President of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA), “the Republican Wing of the Republican Party”.