Montgomery McFate is a cultural anthropologist who works on defence and national security issues. She is the Minerva Chair at the Center for Naval Warfare Studies at the US Naval War College and has been profiled in the New Yorker, Elle and the Atlantic Monthly.

Janice H. Laurence is a professor in the College of Education at Temple University and is an internationally recognized military psychologist.

"Laurence and McFate have produced an invaluable contribution to the literature examining the role of social sciences generally and anthropology in particular in assisting military operations, especially in counterinsurgency. This volume combines superb first-hand reports of how human terrain teams function with deep analytical and ethical analysis. First rate." -- Martin L. Cook, Admiral James Bond Stockdale Professor of Professional Military Ethics, United States Naval War College

"The Human Terrain System was one of the most interesting innovations in a Department of Defense that was unprepared for the counterinsurgency campaigns of this century. This book captures many of the lessons learned from that wartime adaptation -- lessons that will be essential preparation for the counterinsurgency campaigns that are sure to emerge in the years ahead." -- John Nagl, Ninth Headmaster, The Haverford School, and author of Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War

"Social Science Goes to War is an extraordinarily important contribution to the literature on the recent US wars. McFate, a co-founder of the Human Terrain System, and the other authors, unflinchingly examine their efforts to help the US military understand the socio-political realities of Iraq and Afghanistan. The United States knew painfully little about the these places, a deficit that fatally compromised the prospects for US-led counterinsurgency. The same knowledge will be needed if the US wishes help build the peace." -- Linda Robinson, senior international policy analyst at the RAND Corporation and author of One Hundred Victories: Special Ops and the Future of American Warfare