The Mainspring of Human Progress

The Mainspring of Human Progress by Henry Grady Weaver is a libertarian history book published in 1947 by Talbot Books. In 1953, the Foundation for Economic Education printed a revised edition and has done all subsequent printings. The book borrows heavily from the 1943 Rose Wilder Lane book The Discovery of Freedom. Rose Wilder Lane's book The Discovery of Freedom: Man's Struggle Against Authority was printed in 1943. It received good reviews, n... more

The Mainspring of Human Progress by Henry Grady Weaver is a libertarian history book published in 1947 by Talbot Books. In 1953, the Foundation for Economic Education printed a revised edition and has done all subsequent printings. The book borrows heavily from the 1943 Rose Wilder Lane book The Discovery of Freedom. Rose Wilder Lane's book The Discovery of Freedom: Man's Struggle Against Authority was printed in 1943. It received good reviews, notably from Albert Jay Nock, but Lane was dissatisfied with it and would not give permission to reprint it. Only one thousand copies were printed in her lifetime. The continuing interest in her book prompted Weaver to write his book. In The Modern Library's readers poll of the 100 best nonfiction books (conducted 4/29/1999 through 9/30/1999), The Mainspring of Human Progress was ranked #48 and The Discovery of Freedom was #67. Weaver, like Lane and Isabel Paterson, saw libertarianism as being derived from Christian faith instead of in... less