When this subject was presented to me it appeared quite clearly as a challenge. When I first became interested in the history of business, it was as a study somewhat divorced from the ordinary routine of affairs. I was a student of economic history who had become convinced that the fundamental approach to this subject was along the line of private enterprise. Now I am asked to point out what value there may be in business history to the business man. At the very beginning of this discussion I ought to make a distinction between two types of business history; one, the history of individual business firms; the other, business history in general.