After twelve years of suffering mysterious disappearances of society's most-productive individuals, the nation's economy is on the verge of collapse. As the government pursues policies imposing even greater brutality against those remaining, Dagny Taggart, Vice President of Taggart Transcontinental, must make a choice between saving the nation's collapsing infrestructure or the man she has come to love - the man who would stop the motor of the World....

A beautiful, mysterious woman becomes the first female to step foot on Strastnoy Island -- formerly a sea-bound monastery, now home to one of the Soviet Union's most infamous prisons. The notorious Commandant Kareyev -- aka "The Beast" -- has requested the Soviet State send him a female companion, who presents herself as a former high-priced call girl. Little does Karayev know she's actually Joan Harding, an American citizen, who's infiltrated with...

"Part two of Ayn Rand's groundbreaking novel... The global economy is on the brink of collapse. Brilliant creators, from artists to industrialists, continue to mysteriously disappear. Dagny Taggart, Vice President in Charge of Operations for Taggart Transcontinental, has discovered what may very well be the answer to a mounting energy crisis--a revolutionary motor that could seemingly power the world. But, the motor is dead-- there's no one left to...