ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyses how optimism was present in the Annual Report of a Spanish brewery, El Alcazar, over the period 1928–1992. It provides a general historic view of accounting in the brewing, distilling and viniculture industries, considering an extended time frame and from a wide range of jurisdictions across various continents. The book discusses the economic and political context in which various valuation proposals emerged. It describes how the post-war construction of the Orion Brewery in 1957 contributed to the social and economic development of the island of Okinawa, Japan, and it also details accounting in new product development. The book also provides details of rules set out for Royal Navy ships in terms of daily alcohol allowances and how the purser on each ship had to account for alcohol and for expenses such as cask repairs.
