The art of accounting is a very old and useful one.
It helps us know where the money goes, in personal and business and governmental accounts.
But as accounting grew in stature and usefulness, efforts to get creative with numbers also grew.
Historian and MacArthur "Genius" award winner Jacob Soll tracks both trends, and how they have affected corporations, countries and entire economies.
Soll's book isThe Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations.