Reviewed by Thomas H. Mclnish University of Delaware

Because accountants are professionals, they are often called upon to give advice and to make decisions about business strategy and business policy, decisions which require a broader view of the economy than is provided by the typical accounting course. For this reason, the accountant needs to know as well not only where the economy is, but how it got there. American Economic History fills this need.

Each of the 12 chapters of American Economic History is devoted to a detailed review of a specific period of United States economic history. Topics covered in each chapter are clearly identified and include such diverse subjects as the development of agriculture and the transportation system, the Civil War, and the growth of big business. Each chapter also provides either a biography of an important individual from the period (e.g., Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, Mellon) or a more detailed profile of an interesting topic from the period such as “Alexis de Tocqueville’s America” or “The Automobile Industry in the 1950’s.’’ An index is provided; references and suggested readings are given for each chapter.

This book is very general, but its strengths make it useful to accountants (and accounting students) who seek a broad overview of the American economy and its past. More importantly, the book is easy to read and understand. This is achieved not through ex¬cessive simplification of the subject, but rather by interesting writing which conveys a sense of the relevance of economic history. Statistics are used amply, but the book is not statistical or quantita¬tive. Numerous pictures and biographies personalize the topics