Libertarians on the Prairie

Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books

De: Christine Woodside

Narrado por: Gabra Zackman

Generations of children have fallen in love with the pioneer saga of the Ingalls family, of Pa and Ma, Laura and her sisters, and their loyal dog, Jack. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books have taught millions of Americans about frontier life, giving inspiration to many and in the process becoming icons of our national identity. Yet few realize that this cherished best-selling series wandered far from the actual history of the Ingalls family and from what Laura herself understood to be central truths about pioneer life.

In this groundbreaking narrative of literary detection, Christine Woodside reveals for the first time the full extent of the collaboration between Laura and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Rose hated farming and fled the family homestead as an adolescent, eventually becoming a nationally prominent magazine writer, biographer of Herbert Hoover, and successful novelist, who shared the political values of Ayn Rand and became mentor to Roger Lea MacBride, the second Libertarian presidential candidate. Drawing on original manuscripts and letters, Woodside shows how Rose reshaped her mother's story into a series of heroic tales that rebutted the policies of the New Deal. Their secret collaboration would lead in time to their estrangement. A fascinating look at the relationship between two strong-willed women, Libertarians on the Prairie is also the deconstruction of an American myth.

Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times best seller or a national best seller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2016 Christine Woodside (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Worth a Second Listen

A thoughtful presentation of details, and fair analysis of the facts - I could even listen a third time to the history of these American icons.

For the "Little House" Enthusiast.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes - if they have read the Little House books and wish to know more about their creation.

Have you listened to any of Gabra Zackman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. She did a very good job. Made this non fiction book interesting.

Great and Interesting

Gives some very interesting insight into the Little House books and the fans. It also gives me insight into my husband, a Libertarian. Great listen and will recommend at least the last bit for him.

Interesting and Good Enough

I learned some things that I had not known, and I enjoyed the experience. This audiobook is good in every way, but it is not great, so I rate it 4, not 5.

Very Interested!!

When I saw this book, I had to get it! I am a huge fan of the Little House books and enjoy learning more about Laura, Rose, and how the stories came to be. I own multiple sets of the Little House series, as well as some of the books about Rose, some stories Rose wrote, and Laura's origional manuscript "Pioneer Girl" but none of these books tell how the stories came to be written, at least not enough! I had heard some talk about Rose actually writing the stories and was interested in hearing more about it! This book did a wonderful job of giving this information I so seeked. The narrator did a great job of narrating, as well.

Good Read

A very enjoyable read and a nice piece of work from Christine Woodside. I learned a lot about Rose Wilder Lane.

Book gets stuck in 2 places

Very interesting book.

I ended up borrow an e-book version from my library in order to read the sections that would absolutely not play on the audio version.

Disappointed that the audible version stops with 59 minutes left and the only weight it would continue was if I fast forwarded it by 2 minutes. This happened on multiple devices. After that point it played fine until about 2 minutes before the end of the book when it stopped again and I could not get it to play the last 2 and 1/2 minutes of the text; very disappointed in this.

Enjoyable read

This was all new information for me so it held my interest. I wonder at the title though as discussion of Libertarianism doesn't come until quite late in the book. It does sort of shatter one's image of Laura and the stories, but not in a destructive way - it humanizes and enhances.