The publication of An Educational War on Poverty: American and British Policy-making, 1960-1980 (Cambridge University Press, 1991), by Harold and Pamela Silver, offers educational historians a rare opportunity: to debate the potential of comparative study, to assess the origins and impact of recent wars on poverty on both sides of the Atlantic, and to revisit policy questions that continue to fascinate many scholars. Like previous symposia published in the HEQ, this scholarly exchange aims to enliven discussions about history, policy, and scholarship.

We are grateful to Harold and Pamela Silver, of Oxford, England, and their distinguished critics. They are Dennis Dean of the Institute of Education, University of London, Clyde Chitty of the University of Birmingham, Robert Lowe of the National-Louis University, and Hugh Davis Graham of Vanderbilt University.