Alice: The Biggest Untold Story in the History of Money

In the 1980s and 90s, amid an explosion in international money flows, a handful of people saw a new financial future and staked claims in it, triggering a battle to control the world’s money markets. With phenomenal profits at stake, the conflict would go all the way to the United States Supreme Court, in a case that involved not just the largest Wall Street banks but also the tech behemoths of Silicon Valley. The extraordinary story of Alice Corporation, a company created to reimagine financial markets, brings together an unlikely cast of characters: renowned author Kate Jennings, international banking insider Ian Shepherd, Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, German-born World War II historian Sigrid MacRae, J.P. Morgan deputy chair Roberto Mendoza - and his dog, Stanley. In the tradition of Michael Lewis’s Flash Boys and The Big Short, Alice is a story of ground-breaking insights, legal intrigue and improbable friendships. Pinpointing the likely causes of the next financial crisis, Alice reveals the fight to build a safer, fairer financial future.

Stuart Kells has written on a wide range of subjects including libraries, publishing, professional services and diamond mining. His shorter works have been published around the world including in Smithsonian, The Paris Review, The Guardian and LitHub. His book The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s literary award and the NSW Premier’s general history prize. He is Adjunct Professor at La Trobe University’s College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce.