This monograph presents a methodology based on the concept of cash flow and produces, in tabular form, annual cash flow statements for a sample population of twenty companies in coal, iron and steel from their respective formation dates to 1914. For the benefit of the non-accountant, a detailed example showing the means by which these figures are derived is included, together with an analysis of the development of the financial reporting process through the second half of the nineteenth century. The book adds a new dimension to the analysis of corporate performance over a long period and offers a valuable database which will facilitate further research. It is an unusual and useful collaboration between accounting historians and economic historians.