Abstract
Peter Mathias, the author of the book reviewed here, is one of the world’s leading and most eminent scholars and professors of economic history, having held positions at both Cambridge and Oxford universities in the United Kingdom. However, Mathias’ interests in and passion for history have not merely been confined to the field of economics. He has also been a champion of the need for “creative interchange” between work in accounting history and business history, with a view to the mutual advancement of both disciplines (Mathias, 1993: 271).
Originally published in 1979, the current volume, released in 2011, is part of the ‘Routledge Revivals’ series and is, therefore, indicative of the longevity and continued relevance of Mathias’ The Transformation of England. The book is divided into two main parts. The first part describes the range of themes with which this collection and compilation of various of the author’s essays and previously published journal articles is concerned. Since the book is subtitled Essays in the Economic and Social History of England in the Eighteenth Century, this might suggest to some readers that the volume would be of minor or peripheral interest to accounting historians. Nevertheless, Part I (and Part II) of the book provides information which is of tangible value and pertinence to academicians in our field in apprehending and sketching the broader contextual milieu within which we conduct studies related to England and/or the eighteenth century.
Further, even a quick scan of the table of contents detailing the themes broached in the eight chapters of Part I makes manifest that many, if not all of the essays and articles within this title, actually have profound direct relevance to historical research in accounting. For example, Chapter 5 of Part I discusses ‘Capital, credit and enterprise in the Industrial Revolution’ and Chapter 6 overviews the interfaces of taxation and industrialisation across the period from 1700 to 1870. Other, selected chapters of Part I engage with issues including the diffusion of British innovations and technical/technological change, poverty and wages. The expositions on these topics offer the potential to make express contributions to key areas in the study of accounting’s past. These would include, for example, investigations that are embedded within discourses on “the transfer of accounting technology (accounting techniques, institutions and concepts)” (Carnegie and Napier, 2012: 344), poverty and indigence (see Gaffikin, 1998; Bisman, 2012: 107), tax history (see Richardson, 2008), and the interplays of accounting, economic and financial history (for example, see Barnes, 2007).
The second and final part (entitled ‘Topics’) of Mathias’ book consists of a further eight chapters which are largely industry-specific. Areas covered in detail include the Royal Mint, brewing, agriculture, the armed forces and public health. Other spheres investigated in this half of the work, and which would also be of particular interest and significance to accounting historians, include a narrative on British and American public finances during the American War of Independence, and a semi-biographical analysis of Dr Johnson on mercantilism and business. Lastly, further information and references to numerous primary and secondary sources are provided in extensive notes at the end of each chapter, which often also include substantial additional explanations of points made in a chapter.
The entire book is written with due recognition of, and sympathy for the contexts of the era, themes and topics covered. Each chapter blends interesting theoretical insights and engaging critical commentary and observation, intertwined with more traditional narrative and practical, precise examples of historical actors, actions and phenomena. This reviewer found Chapter 8 on ‘Leisure and wages in theory and practice’ immensely different, enlightening and engrossing. Peter Mathias ably exhibits and distinctly demonstrates cognizance of the dynamics of interrelationships and interdependencies, not only between issues of thought, real-world happenings and historical events, but of the inextricable linkages of the economic, social, political, financial, religious and scientific-technological planes of the focal era. This title would represent a valuable and timeless addition to the library of both emerging and established scholars in accounting history.