Introduction

Introduction

The two essays printed in this monograph were written by my teacher Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995) about his teacher Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973). The first was written soon after Mises’s death, and has long served as the most popular introduction to the thought of Mises.

The second, written in 1988, is more biographical in its content, and served as something of a prototype for the magisterial biography Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism by Jörg Guido Hülsmann. Together they provide the reader an excellent overview of Mises’s thought and life and its meaning for our times.

It has been many years since the Mises Institute has had either of these essays in print, and have them printed together is all the better. As we look at the whole sweep of the twentieth century, we find few intellectual heroes at all. The social sciences are particularly barren in this regard. Mises, however, stands out considering the price he paid. He was driven out of his home country and had to fight for students and a chance to teach in the United States. And yet, ideas are unstoppable. Today we see the Misesian School thrive as never before.

This edition makes a unique contribution to the goal of spreading his ideas ever further. The reader owes a debt to Murray Rothbard for making this possible, for both his own scientific work and his passionate (and even pious) gratitude that he had for his teacher.

DOUGLAS E. FRENCH

February 20, 2009