"I’ve long followed the maxim 'you’ll never know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been.' It’s been a guidepost for me in more or less everything I’ve ever set out to learn. And as Brawn, Fleishman, and Meine, editors of the new Foundations of Conservation Biology; A Guide to the Classic Literature clearly demonstrate in their creation and organization of the book, it’s a maxim that they very much believe to be one worthy of following as well. . . . This is a book that quickly makes clear its importance to any and all who seek to understand the field as it began, as it progressed, changed, and where it is headed in the future. . . . [It is] ready and waiting to be consulted for book recommendations, points of historical context, insights into the philosophies that undergird the field, and most any other purpose."