If you’re enjoying our celebration of Atlas Shrugged each month in honor of the novel’s 60th anniversary, you won’t want to miss the latest featured item at ARI’s eStore, “The Spirit of Francisco” by Shoshana Milgram.

In this lecture, you’ll hear Milgram, associate professor of English at Virginia Tech, give insights about Francisco d’Anconia, one of the central characters in Atlas Shrugged. “Francisco, more than anyone else,” commented Ayn Rand in 1961, “seems to have been Minerva in my mind — he came in ready-made.”

Drawing on Rand’s hand-edited manuscripts, Milgram contrasts her revisions in refining this “ready-made” character with the changes she made in the characters for whom she had prepared extensive notes (such as Rearden and Roark).

Download it today to learn about the key role of this major figure in the novel and how Rand created in Francisco the ideal epitomizing relentless ambition, elegant self-confidence and radiant joy. Download here.