Introduction: Leslie Hannah and business history in his time

Abstract

This article celebrates the life, career, and intellectual contribution of Leslie Hannah, while also summarising the other papers of this festschrift. We discuss Hannah’s early life, the development of business history prior to the launch of the London School of Economics’ Business History Unit (BHU), together with Hannah’s contribution to business history research and disciplinary development during and after his time as BHU director. We conclude with brief summaries of the other eight articles in this special issue.