The Discovery of Freedom: Man's Struggle Against Authority
"There's a book you should read," Ruth Dazey, my secretary, said one day.Preoccupied, I nodded. Pencil and pad at hand I said, "Title and author, please.""Discovery of Freedomby Rose Wilder Lane."I scribbled the information. "Fine. Thanks."It took awhile to locate a copy.Discovery of Freedomwasn't available in book stores, but a worn volume was finally found in a used book emporium and the purchase was made. I took the book home with me and began to read it that very evening.I was captivated, enthralled, caught up in the grandeur of the concepts which marched one after another across the pages.Here is an epic depicting the story of humanity. It provided a backdrop and spotlighted performances by its stars. It is philosophy and history at the same time. But it is a record of human history, not a story of generals or politicians, preening and strutting before the masses. It is about the people who build the bridges, cut down the trees, plant the crops, sail the seas, who mine and manufacture, who have children and who suffer and survive and somehow manage to make life possible and even pleasant.It is a story which contains wry humor, satire, and much wisdom. And there is a thread of wisdom which can shake a person to the roots. I couldn't put the book down. I absorbed everything in it. Or, perhaps more accurately, the book absorbed me. It is one of the great books of the twentieth century.