Location: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium

With rapid technological and strategic change facing today's military, obtaining a complete understanding of the present, let alone the past, is a formidable challenge. Yet this very high rate of change makes the study of the past all the more important. The Past as Prologue explores the usefulness of the study of history for contemporary military strategists. It illustrates the great importance of military history while simultaneously revealing the challenges of applying the past to the present. Essays from authors of diverse backgrounds – British and American, civilian and military – argue for the necessity of such historical study by today's military leaders, not only for a better understanding of the military profession, but also for an awareness of the repetitiveness of certain military problems.

Williamson Murray is Professor Emeritus of European Military History at Ohio State University and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Defense Analysis. A prolific writer, Professor Murray has authored several books and co-edited numerous collections on military effectiveness, innovations, and modern war history. Richard Hart Sinnreich, an independent consultant in areas ranging from Army war-gaming to defense transformation, was co-editor of this text.