Economist Thorstein Veblen saw the United States as a business civilization, and President Calvin Coolidge declared, "The chief business of the American people is business." How did business come to have such power and cultural centrality in the United States? Why did American businesses assume such massive scale? How have American companies competed with one another and with foreign firms? Why did business shift from a culture that prized hierarchy and long-term employment to one that celebrated entrepreneurship? Walter Friedman deftly explores the variety of business enterprise in the United States, introducing an array of entrepreneurs and business leaders (John Jacob Astor, Cyrus McCormick, Lydia Pinkham, and Thomas J. Watson) and leading firms (General Electric, Xerox, and Apple).

List of illustrations -- Introduction: a business civilization -- Trade and empire -- Commerce in the new nation, 1780-1820 -- Early manufacturers, 1820-1850 -- Railroads and mass distribution, 1850-1880 -- An industrial country, 1880-1910 -- Modern companies, 1910-1930 -- Crisis and war, 1930-1945 -- Corporate America, 1945-1980 -- Entrepreneurs and the global economy, 1980-2020 -- Conclusion: sustainability -- References -- Further reading -- Index.