A Prologue is Just a Beginning

I've been monitoring a hot and heavy discussion on prologues on one of the writer forums.

The contention has been advanced readers don't like them and many editors and agents now decline to consider a novel with a prologue.

Personally I find that ridiculous. Why would an author include a prologue if he/she didn't intend it to be read? A prologue is defined as a preface, an introduction to a story, providing background or other details essential to the tale. The narrative device has been in use ...