The Neglected Potential of Rothbard’s Preface to Theory and History as an Introductory Text on Austrian Methodology

Given the breadth of the ideas of the Austrian School of Economics and the numerous lengthy treatises across which those ideas are scattered, it is no easy task to recommend an introductory text which clearly and quickly conveys the definitive characteristics of this school of thought. However, Murray N. Rothbard's rarely discussed Preface to Ludwig von Mises's book Theory and History possesses considerable untapped potential in this regard. The Preface's merits as an introductory reading stem not only from its persuasive summary of the praxeological method and the core arguments in its favour, amongst other distinguishing characteristics of the Austrian School, but also from its brevity and Rothbard's stylistic clarity, which make it particularly accessible to newcomers to Austrian ideas