This paper reviews the interrelated fields of damage and fatigue in composite materials through a personal lens. The account presented is based on the author's own engagement in these fields over a period of 25 years during which time a steady evolution of concepts, analyses and methodologies have shaped the fields. The contributions to these developments have no doubt come from a large number of researchers, but the account presented here traces the progress from the author's perspective. The exposition to follow describes the developments in three periods: the 80s, the 90s, and since