This remarkable, newly revised collection of Ayn Rand’s early fiction, now including the previously unpublished short story, “The Night King,” ranges from beginner’s exercises to excerpts from early versions of We the Living and The Fountainhead. Arranged chronologically, from 1926 through 1940, these works allow readers to follow the extraordinary trajectory of Rand’s literary and intellectual growth during a critical decade: from a twenty-one-year-old Russian immigrant struggling to master English to the brilliant prose stylist she was to become in her mature work. Chosen and introduced by Leonard Peikoff, Ayn Rand’s longtime associate and literary executor, each piece represents a significant advance in Rand’s evolution as artist and philosopher.