These books make available material relating to the statutory regulations covering the degree of accountability required from local authorities during the period 1834-1936. The bulk of historical accounting research has focused on the development of financial accounting although in recent years the development of management accounting has attracted more interest. In both these areas, it has been the accounting practices of the private sector which have received more attention, central government in the Middle Ages some attention, and local government accounting very little. These volumes redress this imbalance in historical investigation, both to provide a comparative basis for work on the private sector and to provide an historical perspective for the system of local government accounting currently in use.
