[jmherbener]

Please forgive the long delay in my response.

I don’t think it is essential to read HA to have a good grasp of AE. It is, however, essential to read HA to understand the historical and philosophical context of the development of AE.

MES strips away the history of and philosophy for economic thought that Mises includes in HA. MES sticks mainly to economic theory and policy and elaborates on the steps of economic analysis to a greater extent than HA.

Look at Bob Murphy’s Study Guides to MES and HA to better compare and contrast them.

https://mises.org/library/study-guide-man-economy-and-state

https://mises.org/library/study-guide-human-action-treatise-economics