The role of large-scale business enterprise-big business and its managers- during the formative years of modern capitalism (from the 1850s until the 1920s) is delineated for the first time in this pathmarking book. Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. the distinguished historian of business, sets forth the reasons for the dominance of big business in American transportation, communication and the central sectors of production and distribution.

pt. 1. The traditional processes of production and distribution --Pt. 2. The revolution in transportation and communication --Pt. 3. The revolution in distribution and production --Pt. 4. The integration of mass production with mass distribution --Pt. 5. The management and growth of modern industrial enterprise.