Fully illustrated in colour,The Contractors, is the first history of the challenges and adventures faced by British civil engineering contractors from their emergence with canal construction in the late-eighteenth century to the present day. Extraordinarily ambitious, largely unrecognised men who built the world’s infrastructure – its roads and railways, canals and bridges, docks and harbours, lighthouses and breakwaters, sea works and flood defences, water supply and irrigation, urban drainage and sewerage, gas works and power stations, and buildings of all shapes and sizes – these contractors took considerable risks, many failed in the process but others thrived and developed into some of the most powerful and influential industrialists of their day.

Including profiles of many of the key figures and organisations in the industry through the ages,The Contractors explains what the business is about and where it comes from, sharing with a wider audience the exploits of these adventurers, characterised by their inspiring leadership, sheer hard work, a strong constitution and perseverance in the face of adversity. Over time, the contractor has changed: from the great Victorian contractors, towering men whose business was their personal affair, through the twentieth century which has seen the rise of the corporate contractor, specialist contractors and the blurring of the distinction between consulting engineers and contractors, to the larger firms of recent years becoming larger through merger and acquisition but, as the examples in this book demonstrate, there is still room for the entrepreneur with vision, leadership and drive to become a highly successful contractor.

The Contractors is a compulsory read for all those working in the industry, including civil engineers, those interested in the industry and its impact on the world, and the wider public. Readers will experience the boom of the canal and railway eras, working at home and abroad, the difficulties and opportunities brought by wars, the equipment used and the specialists and sub-contractors of today, fully illustrated with unique material from ICE and the firms themselves.

David Y. Chan is an Associate Professor at St. John’s University. Dr. Chan earned a Ph.D. in Management with a concentration in Accounting Information Systems from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He also holds a Master of Science in Accounting and Bachelor of Science in Finance from St. John's University. Dr. Chan is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York, Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Information Systems Auditor, and Certified Fraud Examiner. His teaching interest includes financial auditing, internal auditing, fraud examination, and information technology auditing. Dr. Chan's research interest includes auditing, auditing technology, and the application of technology in accounting and auditing.

Victoria Chiu received her Ph.D. in Accounting from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She is an Assistant Professor at the State University of New York at Oswego. Dr. Chiu’s teaching interests include financial accounting, managerial accounting and cost accounting. Prior to joining SUNY Oswego, Dr. Chiu was an Assistant Professor at SUNY New Paltz and the Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Instructor at Rutgers University. Her research interests include accounting bibliometrics, continuous audit, emerging technologies in accounting, textual and classification analysis, product costing analysis and accounting pedagogy. Dr. Chiu's research has been published in a number of academic journals such as International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Journal of Accounting Literature, Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics, Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting…etc. Dr. Chiu is an active member of the American Accounting Association and Strategic and Emerging Technologies Section.

Miklos A. Vasarhelyi [Ph.D in MIS (UCLA) MBA (MIT) and BS in Economics and Electrical Engineering (the State University of Guanabara and Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro)]. Professor Vasarhelyi is currently the KPMG Distinguished Professor of Accounting Information Systems and Director of the Rutgers Accounting Research Center (RARC) & Continuous Auditing and Reporting Laboratory (CARLAB) at Rutgers University. He has published more than 200 journal articles, 20 books, and directed over 40 PhD theses. He is the editor of the Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting. Professor Vasarhelyi has taught executive programs on electronic commerce to many large international organizations including GE, J&J, Eli Lilly, Baxter, ADL, Volvo, Siemens, Chase Bank, and AT&T. Professor Vasarhelyi is credited with the original continuous audit application and as the leading researcher in this field. The CAR Lab’s projects include among others Siemens, KPMG, P&G, AICPA, CA Technologies, and Itau-Unibanco. Prof. Vasarhelyi has been awarded the Outstanding Educator of the year by the AAA in 2014 and the Wasserman award by ISACA in 2013.