IntroductionRecent years have witnessed an explosion in the academic literature of accounting history, not only in the English language but throughout the world. This growth has manifested itself not just in the number of publications but in the topics examined, research approaches adopted, and range of theoretical perspectives applied to the study of accounting through its history. Indeed, accounting history is mature enough for researchers to start to divide into "schools" practising very different modes of study and adopting distinct problematizations of the history of accounting. Labels such as "traditionalist", "antiquarian", "post-modernist", "Foucauldian", "critical historian", "Marxist" are pinned to those identified as members of different groups or even embraced with pride. Claims are made for a "new accounting history" (Miller et al., 1991), which is seen as "a loose assemblage of often quite disparate research questions and issues".Rather than viewing the history of accounting as a natural evolution of administrative technologies, it is coming increasingly to be viewed as the formation of one particular complex of rationalities and modes of intervention among many, a complex that has itself been formed out of diverse materials and in relation to a heterogeneous range of issues and events. (Miller et al., 1991, p. 396) An emphasis on the importance of perceiving accounting as one social practice among many links the diverse practitioners of the "new accounting history": accounting is to be understood in the context in which it operates, as a phenomenon local in both space and time. However, certain approaches to understanding accounting are suspect to the new accounting historians, particularly attempts to explain specific modes of accounting by reference to "economic" rationales alone. New accounting historians are more likely to see

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Accounting historians have long recognised accounting’s international scope but have typically concentrated their research endeavours on region‐ or country‐specific studies, or on investigating the diffusion of accounting ideas, techniques and institutions from one country to others. Much potential exists to study the development of accounting from a comparative international perspective, mirroring the attention paid over the past two decades to the comparative study of international accounting practices and standards. This paper proposes a definition of comparative international accounting history (CIAH) and examines the nature and scope of studies within this genre. The CIAH approach is exemplified through an exploratory comparative study of agrarian accounting in Britain and Australia in the latter half of the nineteenth century. In the light of this study, the paper evaluates the potential of CIAH to contribute to an understanding of accounting’s past and provide insights into accounting’s present and future.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to revisit the special issue of Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal published in 1996 on the theme “Accounting history into the twenty‐first century”, in order to identify and assess the impact of the special issue in shaping developments in the accounting history literature, and to consider issues for future historical research in accounting.Design/methodology/approachA retrospective and prospective essay focusing on developments in the historical accounting literature.FindingsThe special issue's advocacy of critical and interpretive histories of accounting's past has influenced subsequent research, particularly within the various research themes identified in the issue. The most significant aspect of this influence has been the engagement of increasing numbers of accounting historians with theoretical perspectives and analytical frameworks.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study examines the content and impact of a single journal issue. It explores future research possibilities, which inevitably involves speculation.Originality/valueIn addressing recent developments in the literature through the lens of the special issue, the paper emphasises the unifying power of history and offers ideas, insights and reflections that may assist in stimulating originality in future studies of accounting's past.

While accounting researchers have explored international publishing patterns in the accounting literature generally, little is known about recent contributions to the specialist international accounting history journals. Specifically, this study surveys publishing patterns in the three specialist, internationally refereed, accounting history journals in the English language during the period 1996 to 1999. The survey covers 149 contributions in total and provides empirical evidence on the location of their authors, the subject country or region in each investigation, and the time span of each study. It also classifies the literature examined based on the literature classification framework provided by Carnegie and Napier [1996].