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.

[1] Weaver felt that "certain important, but lesser known books, deserved to be rewritten, brought up-to-date and published in streamlined editions for people who don't have much time to read.

"[2] He characterized his work as both a "condensation" and an "amplification" of Lane's, writing: "I've tried to retell her story in my own way, making liberal use of her material—plus ideas growing out of personal experiences and gathered from various sources.

"[2] 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.