  We present a review of recent studies of the formation and evolution of the
Milky Way galaxy, in particular based on large samples of non-kinematically
selected stars with available proper motions. The Milky Way is argued to be a
reasonable template for the formation of large spiral galaxies, the only one in
which complete kinematical and abundance information can be readily obtained.
Ongoing and future projects to obtain proper motions and spectral information
for much larger samples of stars that will sharpen our perspective are
discussed.
