The Routledge Companion to Accounting History

Summary

The Routledge Companion to Accounting History shows how the seemingly innocuous practice of accounting has pervaded human existence in fascinating ways at numerous times and places; from ancient civilisations to the modern day, and from the personal to the political.

Placing the history of accounting in context with other fields of study, the collection gives invaluable insights to subjects such as the rise of capitalism, the control of labour, gender and family relationships, racial exploitation, the functioning of the state, and the pursuit of military conflict. An engaging and comprehensive overview also examining geographical differences, this Companion is split into key sections, which explore:

• changing technologies used to represent financial and other data
• historical development of accounting theory and practice
• accounting institutions and those who perform accounting
• accountancy and the economy
• accounting, society, and culture
• the role of accounting in the government, protection and financing of states including chapters on the important role played by accountancy in religious organizations, a review of how the discipline is portrayed in fine art and popular culture, and analysis of sharp practice and corporate scandals.

The Routledge Companion to Accounting History has a breadth of coverage that is unmatched in this growing area of study. Bringing together leading writers in the field, this is an essential reference work for any student of accounting, business and management, and history.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Synthesis and Engagement (John Richard Edwards and Stephen P. Walker)  Part 1: The Discipline  1. Structures, Territories and Tribes (Stephen P. Walker)  2. Historiography (Christopher J. Napier)  3. Subjects, Sources and Dissemination (John Richard Edwards)  Part 2: Technologies  4. Ancient Accounting (Salvador Carmona and Mahmoud Ezzamel)  5. Bookkeeping (David Oldroyd and Alisdair Dobie)  6. Mechanisation and Computerisation (Charles W. Wootton and Barbara E. Kemmerer)  Part 3: Theory and Practice  7. Financial Accounting Theory (Thomas A. Lee)  8. Financial Accounting Practice (Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh)  9. Management Accounting: Theory and Practice (Richard Fleischman)  10. Auditing (Josephine Maltby)  Part 4: Institutions  11. Professionalisation (Chris Poullas)  12. Practitioners, Work and Firms (David J. Cooper and Keith Robson)  13. Education (Fiona Anderson-Gough)  14. Regulation (Alan J. Richardson)  Part 5: Economy  15. Capitalism (Steven Toms)  16. National Accounting (Ignace de Beelde)  17. Finance and Financial Institutions (Janette Rutterford)  18. Railroads (Dale L. Flesher and Gary J. Previts)  19. Scandals (Thomas A. Lee, Frank L. Clarke and Graeme W. Dean)  Part 6: Society and Culture  20. Gender (Rihab Khalifa and Linda M. Kirkham)  21. Race and Ethnicity (Marcia Annisette)  22. Indigenous Peoples and Colonialism (Susan Greer and Dean Neu)  23. Emancipation (Sonja Gallhofer and Jim Haslam)  24. Religion (Salvador Carmona and Mahmoud Ezzamel)  25. Creative Arts (Sam McKinstry)   Part 7: Polity  26. The State (Philip Colquhoun)  27. Military (Warwick Funnell)  28. Taxation (Margaret Lamb)

Editor(s) Bio

John Richard Edwards is a Professor of Accounting at Cardiff Business School, UK. He is a regular contributor to international refereed journals, and the author of A History of Financial Accounting (Routledge, 1989).

Stephen P. Walker is a Professor of Accounting at Cardiff Business School, UK. He is a former editor of Accounting Historians Journal and President of the Academy of Accounting Historians. His publications concern accounting histories of professionalisation, gender, social control and identity.