Going Back

I have not been rereading Ensign Flandry from cover to cover but Sean has pointed out a relevant detail in the opening chapter so let's backtrack. In Young Flandry:

p. i is a title page with just the title;
p. ii is a list of Baen Books by Poul Anderson;
p. iii is a title page with title, author's name and publisher's symbol;
p. iv is publishing information;
p. v is CONTENTS;
p. vi is blank;
pp. vii-xi are the Introduction by Hank Davis;
p. xii is blank;
p. 1 is an internal title page for Young Flandry;
p. 2 is a dedication to Frank and Beverly Herbert;
p. 3 is an excerpt from a Pilot's Manual about Saxo and Starkad;
p. 4 is blank;
pp. 5-11 are CHAPTER ONE Evening on Terra -

The Pilot's Manual mentions:

the first Grand Survey;
the Polesotechnic League;
the Time of Troubles;
the Imperial sphere -

- and thus briefly summarizes the Technic History to date.

The viewpoint character of pp. 5-11 is Lord Markus Hauksberg, Viscount of Ny Kalmar, Second Minister of Extra-Imperial Affairs.