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Double Entry: How the Merchants of Venice Created Modern Finance Reprint Edition

by Jane Gleeson-White (Author)

4.1 309 ratings

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“Lively history. . . . Show[s] double entry’s role in the creation of the accounting profession, and even of capitalism itself.”―The New Yorker

Filled with colorful characters and history, Double Entry takes us from the ancient origins of accounting in Mesopotamia to the frontiers of modern finance. At the heart of the story is double-entry bookkeeping: the first system that allowed merchants to actually measure the worth of their businesses. Luca Pacioli―monk, mathematician, alchemist, and friend of Leonardo da Vinci―incorporated Arabic mathematics to formulate a system that could work across all trades and nations. As Jane Gleeson-White reveals, double-entry accounting was nothing short of revolutionary: it fueled the Renaissance, enabled capitalism to flourish, and created the global economy. John Maynard Keynes would use it to calculate GDP, the measure of a nation’s wealth. Yet double-entry accounting has had its failures. With the costs of sudden corporate collapses such as Enron and Lehman Brothers, and its disregard of environmental and human costs, the time may have come to re-create it for the future.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Entertaining and informative."
― The Economist

"Lucidly presented. . . . An accessible introduction to this key development in the history of capitalism."
― Edward Chancellor, Wall Street Journal

"Stimulating. . . . Fascinating."
― Drew DeSilver, Seattle Times

"A timely, topical, readable, and thought-provoking look at the history and legacy of double-entry bookkeeping."
― Elif Batuman, author of The Possessed

"Elegantly written . . . charts the epic journey of the humble device that showed how to count the cost of everything, from the Doge’s Palace to the acrobatics of John Maynard Keynes’s General Theory."
― Nicholas Wapshott, author of Keynes Hayek

"A stimulating approach that presents a compelling outline for further detailed review."
― Kirkus Reviews

"Starred review. Lively and elegantly written account of the history of double-entry bookkeeping.... This dynamic examination of the impact and legacy of double-entry bookkeeping is sure to appeal to those in the accounting profession, business leaders, and history buffs, and will likely become required reading in business school curricula."
― Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Jane Gleeson-White is the author of Double Entry: How the Merchants of Venice Created Modern Finance, which won the 2012 Waverley Library Award for Literature. Gleeson-White has degrees in economics and literature from the University of Sydney.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (October 7, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393346595
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393346596
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #130,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #79 in Financial Accounting (Books)
- #282 in Company Business Profiles (Books)
- #327 in Economic History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.1 309 ratings

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309 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book a good mix of history and accounting. They describe it as an interesting, fun read that provides useful information about double-entry accounting. The research is well-received, providing valuable insights into the history of merchants and mathematics. Readers appreciate the thought-provoking narrative and clear writing style. Overall, they find the book informative and insightful, providing a unique perspective on how the double-entry system has shaped the world.

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History Readability Research quality Thought provoking Writing style Entry level

44 customers mention "History"44 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's history fascinating and well-written. They appreciate the good mix of history and accounting, with an interesting character at the core of the story. The author weaves history, legend, and assumptions into a pretty narrative. The lead-in and follow-up introduce many famous and not so famous icons from the Renaissance period. The author keeps the Renaissance environment running alongside the narrative, which they find accurate.

"...makes the subject both interesting and keeps the Renaissance environment running alongside her narrative, as her first love was, perhaps still is,..." Read more

"...The book explains this history and evolution, along the way dispelling myths about how it came to be, setting the record straight, and providing..." Read more

"...Glesson-White's book may be regarded as a short, introductory history of accounting. The Double Entry system emerged at a crucial time in history...." Read more

"...The historical references that were analyzed showed real talent and were thought provoking. I just hoped for much more." Read more

36 customers mention "Readability"36 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and informative. They say it's a good read for anyone interested in the history of bookkeeping. The author does a great job of telling the story of the origins of double-entry accounting.

"...The research was obviously extensive and impeccable, and the interpretations logical and compelling. Up to a point...." Read more

"...Python jokes about Chartered Accountants -- and turned it into an exciting, lively, and relevant history...." Read more

"...Nevertheless, I did enjoy the book." Read more

"...by Jane Gleeson - White This book is a gem!..." Read more

34 customers mention "Research quality"31 positive3 negative

Customers find the book well-researched and engaging. They appreciate the informative history of accounting and the fascinating review of the confluence of Roman, Greek, and Hindu maths. The book provides a useful polemic on Renaissance Venice, its merchants, and scholarly discoveries. It is thorough and goes well beyond other books. Readers mention it's an important approach to the study of human civilization and history.

"...The research was obviously extensive and impeccable, and the interpretations logical and compelling. Up to a point...." Read more

"...Gleeson-White's narrative is lively, highly readable and well-research in an otherwise obscure area...." Read more

"...Well researched thoroughly documented with ample citations of other writers opinions...." Read more

"...together with stories of Renaissance Venice, its merchants and scholarly discoveries, development of capitalism, national GDP, and accounting for..." Read more

23 customers mention "Thought provoking"19 positive4 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking. They say it weaves history and legend into a fascinating tale. The narrative is lively and well-researched, with unique insights into the role of Double Entry. Readers appreciate the clear explanation for the impetus to the end of the Middle Ages and the revealing details about obscure topics.

"...a women of good taste and clean writing skill, makes the subject both interesting and keeps the Renaissance environment running alongside her..." Read more

"...The research was obviously extensive and impeccable, and the interpretations logical and compelling. Up to a point...." Read more

"...She has woven this lively read into a unique insight of the role the Double Entry accounting system has played in making and ultimately un-making..." Read more

"...references that were analyzed showed real talent and were thought provoking. I just hoped for much more." Read more

12 customers mention "Writing style"10 positive2 negative

Customers appreciate the book's writing style. They find it well-researched and engaging, with a clear explanation of the impetus to the end.

"...The author, a women of good taste and clean writing skill, makes the subject both interesting and keeps the Renaissance environment running..." Read more

"...Gleeson-White's narrative is lively, highly readable and well-research in an otherwise obscure area...." Read more

"All I all I was happy with the book. It is interesting and mostly well written...." Read more

"A fascinating book, very well researched and well written. In Silicon Valley they like to say "You can't manage what you can't measure."..." Read more

6 customers mention "Entry level"6 positive0 negative

Customers like the book's entry level. It explains how the double entry system transforms the world.

"...book, does a excellent job of informing us how the double entry system transforms the world..." Read more

"Double Entry (AKA Debit/Credit)..." Read more

"Double Entry..." Read more

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Jacques Taulard
Essential, important must read no matter how many times it takes you to do it!
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2023
Verified Purchase
As a lifetime financial pro (stocks, futures, commodities, FOREX, interest rates et. et yawn etc.) it always startled me that no one - especially CPA's to whom I paid mucho bucks over the years - could tell me anything about the origins of accounting! Yes, true. VERY recent, as per historical time.

Even the bright boys and girls in the crypto space can hardly cite the origin, location and world-shattering importance of double entry bookkeeping and the ledger system.

And where and how the words' debit' and 'credit' originated. Debit, incidentally, originated before negative numbers were finally accepted by mathematicians.

And then we have the balance sheet, income statement and cash-flow statement! Where and how did were these born? And we have the use, for the first time in the West, or nearly anywhere, the numbers 1-9 and the Jaines zero! Quickly followed algebra, then the world as we currently know it is largely a bi-product of organized profit=-seeking, as per the NUMBERS.

The author, a women of good taste and clean writing skill, makes the subject both interesting and keeps the Renaissance environment running alongside her narrative, as her first love was, perhaps still is, Renaissance art and society, particularly in the Italian boot.

There are no spoilers in this brief review, but you ignore this knowledge at your own peril. As I write this, the charming but corrupt elected officials are discussing something very cleverly called a 'budget.'

A budget is a sum of money allocated for expenses an costs over a time period. Budgets are based on how much of the income is available, along with the potential of using (against common sense) savings or other assets. The income comes first, then the 'budget.'

The US Federales do not generate any significant income from producing anything. There is some but the primary 'income' is from taxes and borrowing and this borrowing is also called 'money creation. Now, you put together borrowing, taxes, and money from heaven and you can decide how much you can spend! If you don't have enough you borrow and increase taxes (or collections) and voila! A balanced budget!

Most of you who have read this far know very little about this process because it is based on accounting! So buy the book, the audio book, the kindle book (I have all three) and beg your supposedly educated friends and family to read.

Cryptocurrencies are built around a ledger (accounting invented Florence) which are accessed by a person or person who have a unique signature (cryptographic signature) and the BALANCES in the LEDGERS for everyone are updated instantly (well, fast) for everyone in the entire system (chain of ledger blocks). Voila, blockchain. No middle man.

But, let we forget this: would would it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul? Money, accounting of money and profitability, having a current summary of ones wealth (property) is a MEANS TO AN END, not an end in itself, dear neighbors.

If you do read, finish and then re-read the book, listen to the Author's lectures on YewToob, you will actually see the entire skeleton of the nations and have an appreciation of the amazing invention of double-entry bookeeping, ledgers, numbers, arithmetic, algebra, and financial statements.

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Robert J. Newell
Good as a history; less so as a polemic
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2022
Verified Purchase
I have mixed feelings about this book.

Certainly it's really well researched, and the historical aspects are fascinating. Double entry bookkeeping may sound extremely dull but in fact it was a brilliant invention that's lasted centuries and remains at the heart of even the largest of today's megacorps.

The book explains this history and evolution, along the way dispelling myths about how it came to be, setting the record straight, and providing fascinating details and insights. The research was obviously extensive and impeccable, and the interpretations logical and compelling.

Up to a point.

The latter part of the book gets into what is commonly called social justice, and how accounting needs to change to take into effect various modern issues such as the environment. I neither dispute nor agree with these claims in this review; that's a different discussion. My point is that the book would have been better as an informative and entertaining history rather than veering into modern issues.

That's not to say that the discussion of how accounting should change in today's world is invalid or unnecessary. Far from it. It is to say that this was not the right vehicle, and in mixing this with what was supposed to have been a history and an historical interpretation, the book loses some effect and perhaps some credibility.

But I still rate it four stars. It's a great book to read and you'll learn a lot from it.

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9 people found this helpful

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James Kalomiris, The Peripatetic Reader
A Great Informative Read
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2013
Verified Purchase
This is not your ordinary history book. In Double Entry, Gleeson-White transforms what is ordinarily the dull and boring subject of accounting -- think of all those Monty Python jokes about Chartered Accountants -- and turned it into an exciting, lively, and relevant history. Gleeson-White's narrative is lively, highly readable and well-research in an otherwise obscure area. She has woven this lively read into a unique insight of the role the Double Entry accounting system has played in making and ultimately un-making the modern world, financial and otherwise.

The Double Entry system of accounting is a relatively new phenomenon. In the thousand years since accounting has been in existence, the Double Entry system made its appearance only five hundred years ago, in Northern Italy, devised by Luca Pacioli. A brilliant polymath, Pacioli associated with the movers and shakers of the times such as Leonardo DaVinci, and others. In a critical chapter,

Glesson-White's book may be regarded as a short, introductory history of accounting. The Double Entry system emerged at a crucial time in history. It made its appearance following the invention of the printing press, the rise of the Venetian Merchant class, and the introduction of the Arabic-Vedic number system. Gleeson-White asserts that the Double Entry system fundamentally changed the way we regarded the world. Everything now was quantified, reduced to numbers. People began to be regulated by clocks and time; drafting maps became commonplace; vison was corrected by eyeglasses; attitudes to capital, interest and money changed.

But "All That Glitters is Not Gold." There is another facet to Geeson-White's book which is unique and refreshing. The book is also a critique and criticism of the ways accounting has been used by financial organizations. The Double Entry method changed the way we viewed the world by quantifying everything into debits and credits. It has not only defined and improved the modern financial world, it has also given rise the greatest excesses and scandals. The book begins with a speech by Robert F. Kennedy during his 1968 Presidential campaign, where he questions what the GNP, the Gross National Product, has come to mean and measure. In the stirring words of RFK, the GNP does not measure a nation's happiness, well-being, nor it natural resources, although it should. Fast-forwarding forty-five years later, Geeson-White describes those efforts at revising both accounting methods and the way in which the GNP is measured. The book ends with RFK's cautious and visionary words. Geeson-White shares that caution.

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10 people found this helpful

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Paul
Deeply interesting history of accounting from the fertile crescent to today
Reviewed in Canada on May 8, 2024
Verified Purchase
I loved this book, read it in 2 weeks. Such a cool combination of facts, from the fertile crescent, to renaissance Italy, to wall street. Looking forward with eco-accounting. Looking smarter years after publication

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Paul

Deeply interesting history of accounting from the fertile crescent to today
Reviewed in Canada on May 8, 2024
I loved this book, read it in 2 weeks. Such a cool combination of facts, from the fertile crescent, to renaissance Italy, to wall street. Looking forward with eco-accounting. Looking smarter years after publication

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Vielleser
Good Idea, insufficient execution
Reviewed in Germany on December 11, 2012
Verified Purchase
I found it difficult to read on after the second and third obvious misinformation. I stopped when the author wrote that the original greek texts of greek mathematics only became known in the West after the fall of Constantinople. As if there had not been a constant exchange between Constantinople and the scientists in the West (The texts were accessible in Constantinople as well as in southern Italy and in libraries in Rome). How accurate is the rest of the book? I can only guess.

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Per Sodersten
Mathematicians turned artists and businessmen
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 20, 2012
Verified Purchase
Double Entry is a wonderful book! It opens up an entirely new world by taking a fresh look at the role of mathematics in economy and the arts in renaissance Venice. Piero della Francesca may have been better known as a mathematician in his days than as an artist. Art was "applied mathematics" at the time! Leonardo, as we know, was everything, yet he too may have been more of a scientist than an artist. Or perhaps, like Piero, Leonardo was also an applied mathematician. Either way, mathematics created many possibilities and the star mathematician was Luca Pacioli, largely forgotten today despite the fact that he did it all, including applying mathematics for effective business and so gave birth to capitalism. The story is told by Jane Gleeson-White with admirable clarity and insight, the influence of Luca Pacioli is with us even today as his system of double book keeping has remained essentially the same over some 5-600 years. Given the influence of mathematics on the arts in the days of Piero, Paciolo and Leonardo, one only regrets that science appears to exerts no influence on today's artists; Feynman even argued that this is reason why artists "are lost, they don't know what to paint because they don't understand how the world works." Understanding the world was the basis for all the fun and excitement that engaged Feyman in his life and by making the reader understand the influence of early mathematics on many aspects of life in Venice, Jane Gleeson-White makes a strong case for her idea that book keeping may turn out to be the most important factor for our possibility to meet some of our most important future challenges, including climate change! It is an extraordinary read, which can be warmly recommended to anyone who wishes to be surprised and delighted.

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sheila
Five Stars
Reviewed in Australia on November 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
fascinating and detailed combination of history and business methods, and points the way to a more sustainable process.

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加納裕司
大変満足
Reviewed in Japan on January 16, 2013
Verified Purchase
Ｅｃｏｎｏｍｉｓｔの推薦図書です。　ルネッサンス時代の簿記に
ついて非常に詳しく興味深い本だと思います。

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