Atlas Shrugged (1957) is Ayn Rand's magnum opus. Before it was complete, Rand said it would ``will combine metaphysics, morality, economics, politics, and sex---and it will show the tie between metaphysics and morality.'' In Who is Ayn Rand?, Atlas Shrugged is described as ``a mystery story, not about the murder of a man's body, but about the murder---and rebirth---of man's spirit.''

The story of Atlas Shrugged centers around two great industrialists struggling to keep their businesses operating in a decaying society. To reveal much more about the plot would do injustice to its elements of mystery, suspense and surprise. However, one can say that Rand was successful in combining metaphysics, morality, economics, politics, and sex into an epic story of action and suspense.

The single word that best describes the achievement of Atlas Shrugged is integration. The book masterfully integrates ideas and action, theme and plot, all driven by the central, integrating theme of ``the role of the mind in man's existence.''