In the first full biography of Friedrich Hayek (1899-1992), Alan Ebenstein chronicles the life, works, and legacy of the visionary thinker, from his early years in fin-de-siècle Vienna to his remarkable career as a Nobel Prize winning economist, political philosopher, and leading public intellectual. Ebenstein gives a balanced, integrated account of Hayek's diverse body of work, from his first encounter with free market ideas to his magisterial writings in later life on the legal, political, ethical, and economic requirements of a free society.