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Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books by [Christine Woodside, Stephen Heuser]

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Christine Woodside

Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books Kindle Edition

by Christine Woodside (Author), Stephen Heuser (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition

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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 bestselling 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 bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Length: 280 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Woodside's contribution to the myriad books and scholarly articles about the dysfunctional relationship between Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, is the result of four decades of exhaustive research. . . . The more fascinating details for readers are those revolving around the strange yet intense relationship between mother and daughter, fraught with resentments and jealousy, yet ultimately steadfast, and certainly productive." —Booklist

"A book for die-hard Little House fans." —Kirkus

"Illuminating . . . Iconoclastic . . . Solidly supports the conclusion that the younger woman [Rose Wilder Lane] was the primary mastermind behind the literary classics." —Book Page

"Myth-busting . . . Woodside masterfully captures the behind-the-scenes story of two strong-willed women locked in an uneasy, but interdependent, enterprise." —Shoreline Times

"New scholarship on Wilder tracks how her books may have been deliberately engineered to fuel the limited-government movement. In a just published work, Libertarians on the Prairie, Christine Woodside fleshes out earlier arguments that Wilder's only child, Rose Wilder Lane, edited the Little House series to reflect her own political leanings." —Boston Globe

"Woodside's book also shines light on the political views of Wilder and her secret collaborator that were below the surface of the Little House series." —History Channel

"Woodside's book is thoroughly researched and leaves one pondering how the Little House books would be different if Lane didn't have such a hand in her mother's books." —The Post Star

"Libertarians on the Prairie is a fascinating expose; of the ideological underpinnings of one of America's best-loved stories. Who knew that the Laura Ingalls Wilder franchise was actually political propaganda?" —Jane Mayer, staff writer, The New Yorker magazine, and author of Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

"This is a beautiful piece of writing. Christine Woodside does an admirable job describing the intense concept of self-reliance which permeated the lives and literature of Wilder and Lane. This book is a must for anyone devoted to the Little House books and their history." —William Anderson, author of Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography and The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder

"The narrative of the Little House books' creation has been a fragmented one until now. Christine Woodside's fresh perspective brings together the pieces of a remarkable literary and cultural history and gives us new insights on the two women who began with a children's story and ended up inspiring a nation." —Wendy McClure, author of The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie

"Christine Woodside has completely changed my view of the Little House on the Prairie. Her encyclopedic scholarship, meticulous assembly of documentary sources, clear narrative writing style, and frank revelations about Rose's FDR-hating politics credibly demonstrate the connection between the Little House books and the libertarian fantasy of noble and government-free prairie self-sufficiency. Woodside has written the classic history of the classic series." —Mark Kramer, founding director of Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism at Harvard University

"Woodside's contribution to the myriad books and scholarly articles about the dysfunctional relationship between Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, is the result of four decades of exhaustive research. . . . The more fascinating details for readers are those revolving around the strange yet intense relationship between mother and daughter, fraught with resentments and jealousy, yet ultimately steadfast, and certainly productive." —Booklist

"A book for die-hard Little House fans." —Kirkus

"Illuminating . . . Iconoclastic . . . Solidly supports the conclusion that the younger woman [Rose Wilder Lane] was the primary mastermind behind the literary classics." —Book Page

"Myth-busting . . . Woodside masterfully captures the behind-the-scenes story of two strong-willed women locked in an uneasy, but interdependent, enterprise." —Shoreline Times

"New scholarship on Wilder tracks how her books may have been deliberately engineered to fuel the limited-government movement. In a just published work, Libertarians on the Prairie, Christine Woodside fleshes out earlier arguments that Wilder's only child, Rose Wilder Lane, edited the Little House series to reflect her own political leanings." —Boston Globe

"Woodside's book also shines light on the political views of Wilder and her secret collaborator that were below the surface of the Little House series." —History Channel

"Woodside's book is thoroughly researched and leaves one pondering how the Little House books would be different if Lane didn't have such a hand in her mother's books." —The Post Star

"Libertarians on the Prairie is a fascinating expose; of the ideological underpinnings of one of America's best-loved stories. Who knew that the Laura Ingalls Wilder franchise was actually political propaganda?" —Jane Mayer, staff writer, The New Yorker magazine, and author of Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

"This is a beautiful piece of writing. Christine Woodside does an admirable job describing the intense concept of self-reliance which permeated the lives and literature of Wilder and Lane. This book is a must for anyone devoted to the Little House books and their history." —William Anderson, author of Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography and The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder

"The narrative of the Little House books' creation has been a fragmented one until now. Christine Woodside's fresh perspective brings together the pieces of a remarkable literary and cultural history and gives us new insights on the two women who began with a children's story and ended up inspiring a nation." —Wendy McClure, author of The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie

"Christine Woodside has completely changed my view of the Little House on the Prairie. Her encyclopedic scholarship, meticulous assembly of documentary sources, clear narrative writing style, and frank revelations about Rose's FDR-hating politics credibly demonstrate the connection between the Little House books and the libertarian fantasy of noble and government-free prairie self-sufficiency. Woodside has written the classic history of the classic series." —Mark Kramer, founding director of Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism at Harvard University

About the Author

Christine Woodside is a writer and the editor of the journal Appalachia. She writes about the history of ordinary Americans and their clashes with nature. She has nourished a fascination with the Little House books since she was a girl. As a teenager, she applied for a summer job at the Laura Ingalls Wilder farmhouse in Mansfield, Missouri--but, residing in New Jersey, failed to impress the curator. She now lives in Deep River, Connecticut, with her husband. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

ASIN : B01HDVCR3Q
Publisher : Arcade; Reprint edition (September 6, 2016)
Publication date : September 6, 2016
Language : English
File size : 3432 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 280 pages
Lending : Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #273,166 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #28 in Children's & Young Adult Literary Criticism
- #34 in Agnosticism (Kindle Store)
- #35 in Family & Parenting Literature Guides

Customer Reviews:
113 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		52%
4 star		19%
3 star		14%
2 star		8%
1 star		8%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Helen

This Book is Mainly a Biography of Laura's Daughter, Rose.

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

Though I read the introduction and blurb of this book before opening the cover to read it, I was not prepared to read a book about Rose Wilder Lane. This book was more of a biography about Laura Ingall's Wilder's daughter and her relationship with her mother.

The book is rather dry and lengthy and if you were expecting to hear a lot about Laura or the Little House family you will be sorely disappointed in this book (as I was). The book delves into all the magazine articles and novels that Rose has written in her lifetime, where she has lived, what houses she bought, etc. This would be great if I had had any interest in Rose but I don't. Some of Laura and Rose's relationship was interesting but not at all like you would expect a mother and daughter relationship to be. Caroline and Charles were mentioned a few times and Almanzo maybe a little more but all in all, they were barely a blip on the pages. Charles and Caroline's other daughters were mentioned peripherally but you can count on one hand the number of times they are mentioned singularly or collectively.

I'll admit I regret paying even $1.99 for this book as it was a huge disappointment.

2 people found this helpful

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Kacey53

Laura Ingalls and Rose Wilder

Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2017

Verified Purchase

This was an interesting read. I knew some of the history of the Ingalls Wilder family, but this really did a nice job of filling in the unknown parts. I really wasn't aware of the extent that Rose played in editing her mother's early books. I knew she had a hand in the process, but it seems she did a whole lot more. She was quite an accomplished author in her own right, but chose to let me mother take the credit for the most part. This book also gave a good picture of the history of our country during this time frame. It was a very different time than what one might think was happening. I did feel that parts were redundant and the story line dragged a bit, but for the most part, it held my interest. Fans of the Little House stories who don't want to have their warm, fuzzy memories of the stories spoiled by the facts should probably pass on this book.

9 people found this helpful

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Greg Ellis

Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

An interesting book, but I felt the author's analysis was a little weak and not always well-supported. I didn't come away truly feeling strongly either way about the Wilder women and how their Libertarian views impacted the Little House books, but I did learn some interesting tidbits about their mother-daughter relationship and about how much involvement Rose Wilder Lane actually had in writing this iconic series.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kansas Cook

Surprising Revelations for an Old Laura Ingalls Wilder fan

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2020

Verified Purchase

This book was fascinating for a long time Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. I am old enough to have belonged to a Laura Ingalls Wilder club at our local library when I was in elementary school and to have watched Little House on the Prairie on television. The author reveals that Laura's daughter revised much of what Laura wrote and really formulated the tone and direction of the books. A really fun and interesting read.

Helpful

Human perspective on two generations

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2017

Verified Purchase

This gave a very human perspective on the daughter of Laura Ingals Wilder as well as Laura. It just shows, once again, that we are all very flawed human beings, we do the best we can given the times we're born into, our basic personality and our parentage. I thought it was good take on talented, persistent people in two,if not more, generations.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Christy Kelly

A plain spoken reveal

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

A thoughtful book about the complex relationship between Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter Rose, who collaborated on the Little House books series. It focuses on the very different lives of pioneer mother and city-dweller daughter caught between two worlds.

5 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Libertarians In History

Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book was very informative about Laura and Almanzo Wilder and their daughter Rose Wilder Lane. I enjoyed learning about Rose's independent spirit. I also enjoyed hearing about the revising of the stories Laura wrote to make the Little House series more suited to children.
It was an excellent read.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

I grew up with the stories and..

Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2017

Verified Purchase

Anytime I see a book with a new slant on Laura, I want to see what is new these many years after her death. The author had a connection with Laura same as me. Most of the material I had read before but the political slant was new. The author or editor needs to remove some of the repetitions.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

helen mclean

Talented writers mother daughter duo and Unusual familial Love.

Reviewed in Canada on August 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

Fascinating blueprint for independent thinkers regarding political systems;also a scenario of similarity with our world situation, economy and climate challenges facing us in present times.
Daughter Rose despite her strong views
Did not really offer solutions other than less government interventions but no tax revenue to offset necessary services.Her ghostwriting secret kept for so long in
these famous books is almost unbelievable. Well researched indeed!

BC in AB

Three Stars

Reviewed in Canada on September 9, 2017

Verified Purchase

A new take on the politics of the protagonists of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books about American pioneers.

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