The essays in this collection treat historical, literary, and philosophical topics related to Ayn Rand's Anthem, an anti-utopia fantasy set in the future. The first book-length study on Anthem, this collection covers subjects such as free will, political freedom, and the connection between freedom and individual thought and privacy.

In this first book-length study of Ayn Rand's anti-utopia Anthem, essays explore the historical, literary, and philosophical themes presiding in this novella written in opposition to the totalitarianism of the Soviet Union (and Nazi Germany). Written in 1937, published in 1938 in Britain, and subsequently in a revised form in the United States in 1946, Anthem investigates the importance of the ego and freedom, and the individual against the state. Editor Robert Mayhew has collected a variety of essays dealing with such topics including: the history behind the novella's creation, publication, and reception; its connection to other anti-utopian novels; and, the significance of ego and freedom, which it portrays and defends. This book is important to philosophers as well as readers looking to gain a better understanding of Ayn Rand and Anthem.

Chapter 1
Chapter 1: The History of Anthem
Chapter 2 Anthem in Manuscript: Finding the Words
Chapter 3 Publishing Anthem
Chapter 4 Anthem: '38 and '46
Chapter 5 Reviews of Anthem
Chapter 6 Adapting Anthem: Projects That Were and Might Have Been
Chapter 7 Anthem and 'The Individualist Manifesto'
Chapter 8
Chapter 2: Anthem as Literature and as Philosophy
Chapter 9 Anthem as a Psychological Fantasy
Chapter 10 Anthem in the Context of Related Literary Works: 'We are not like our brothers'
Chapter 11 'Sacrilege toward the Individual': The Anti-Pride of Thomas More's Utopia and Anthem's Radical Alternative
Chapter 12 Needs of the Psyche in Ayn Rand's Early Ethical Thought
Chapter 13 Breaking the Metaphysical Chains of Dictatorship: Free Will and Determinism in Anthem
Chapter 14 Prometheus' Discovery: Individualism and the Meaning of the Concept I in Anthem
Chapter 15 Freedom of Disassociation in Anthem
Chapter 16 Anthem and Collectivist Regression into Primitivism
Chapter 17 Epilogue: Anthem: An Appreciation
Chapter 18 Appendix: Teaching Anthem: A Guide for High School and University Teachers