Now that this book is being published as part of Hartinus NljhoGBPGBP' s 'Studies in Industrial Organization'. I should like to point out two fac- tors which strongly influenced the study. There would have been no project on this scale if the Peace Research coamittee of the Free University, Amsterdam, had not coamissioned a major empirical investigation into Western Europe'an defence industries and pro- vided the funds and facUities needed to carry it out. I am grateful for this, for the committee's confidence and its patience, and for the unfail- ing support of the secretaries at the...