Entrepreneurship has been one of the major issues in rural education. This annotated bibliography is a guide to theoretical material and to more recent empirical work on entrepreneurs in different economic climates. The material was gathered to enable rural development strategists who want to promote local independent business development to build a knowledge base by using literature specifically on rural entrepreneurs. Research on entrepreneurship has changed during the past 250 years, since the concept was born in economic theory. The focus has shifted from the characteristics of individual entrepreneurs to the current emphasis on the contributions of entrepreneurship to economic development. While descriptive studies abound, the cited literature contains few empirical studies of rural entrepreneurship that test economic theories. Also, few researchers approach the analysis from a national perspective. Most report only local case studies. Another gap in the literature concerns the characteristics of new businesses in rural areas. The bibliography is organized into four chapters, which are: (1) Definition of the Entrepreneur, 119 citations; (2) Stages of an Entrepreneurial Business, 48 citations; (3) Environments Favorable to Entrepreneurship, 26 citations; and (4) Entrepreneurship as a Development Strategy, 96 citations. Each entry contains bibliographical information and an annotation. Comprehensive sources, periodical and additional citations without annotations are listed. The material is also indexed by author and subject. This bibliography is produced by extensive computer and manual search of pertinent literature. It includes substantial historical material as early as 1730 as well as current works. (TES)