John Henry Guy: A Man of Many Parts

ABSTRACT John Henry Guy worked in Britain and the United States throughout the first half of the twentieth century. He became the financial vice president of the M. Rumely Company of Indiana at just 31 years of age and, on his return to Britain, made a major contribution to the war effort while working as an accountant at the British Ministry of Munitions. It is also revealed that Guy took a broad view of accounting as a mechanism capable of achieving the more efficient use of resources by demonstrating its potential role within the domestic sphere. Throughout his career, Guy's religious convictions caused him great anxiety as he believed that the objectives of capitalism were fundamentally irreconcilable with the Christian principles that defined the legitimate conduct of daily life. Indeed, his own story demonstrates how easy it is for businesspeople to become associated with the shady side of commercial affairs.