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Book excerpt: It has been said that every generation of historians seeks to rewrite what a previous generation had established as the standard interpretations of the motives and circumstances shaping the fabric of historical events. It is not that the facts of history have changed. No one will dispute that the battle of Waterloo occurred on June 11, 1815 or that the allied invasion of Europe began on June 6, 1944. What each new age of historians are attempting to do is to reinterpret the motives of men and the force of circumstance impacting the direction of past events based on the factual, social, intellectual, and cultural milieu of their own generation. By examining the facts of history from a new perspective, today's historians hope to reveal some new truth that will not only illuminate the course of history but also validate contempo rary values and societal ideals. Although it is true that tackling the task of developing a new text on logistics and distribution channel management focuses less on schools of philosophical and social analysis and more on the calculus of managing sales campaigns, inventory replenishment, and income statements, the goal of the management scientist, like the historian, is to merge the facts and figures of the discipline with today's organizational, cultural, and economic realities. Hopefully, the result will be a new synthesis, where a whole new perspective will break forth, exposing new directions and opportunities.