Bøger af Stuart Kells

From Wall Street to the supreme court, how the world's largest banks control the money markets and crush competitionIn 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.

A ground-breaking counter-history of Penguin Books - both amusing and and with a strong new Australian aspect. How did the three Lane brothers enter publishing and build Penguin into a global powerhouse? As this new book shows, their innovation and the creative opposition among them would prove to be the company's secret weapon. The Lane boys did their best thinking together in bathroom board-meetings, where at least one director would always be 'mother naked'. The war, though, brought tragedy for the family. John Lane's 1942 death in action during the North African landings shattered the brothers' intimate partnership. Richard went on to share with Allen the leadership of one of the first global media businesses. The Lanes built a firm and a brand that became synonymous not only with paperbacks but also with a certain kind of publishing: switched-on, progressive, engaging. With its low-price, mass-distribution model, Penguin became a vast 'poor man's university', a proto-internet made from paper and ink. Australia featured prominently in the lives of the Lanes. Richard came to the country as a young man, and later helped establish and lead Penguin Australia, which was so successful that it enabled its UK parent to stave off bankruptcy in the 1960s and 1970s. Relying on unprecedented access to Lane family sources, including Richard's diaries and other papers, Penguin and the Lane Brothers sheds new light on the relationship between Allen, Richard and John, so crucial as a driver of Penguin's spirit and success. It restores the younger Lane brothers to their rightful place in the fascinating story of this unlikely publishing triumph.

Australia's modern history has long been full of mystery, legend and myth. But what if all the myths are true?The Hourglass Map is a captivating story of adventure, world-making and contested history.It is a story of unlikely friendships and remarkable journeys.And it is a story about the unique nature of stories and the transformative power of words. ¿¿¿¿¿¿In an alternative Australia, the Theory of Everything reigns supreme.The world's greatest minds have built the Consistency Engine - a marvellous, fractal machine - as the physical embodiment of the Theory. The Engine stores all knowledge and purges it of contradictions.Deviations from the official view of history are forbidden.But some people maintain the old beliefs: stories and superstitions that are whispered over cups of Earl Grey tea and slices of lemon-butter bread.Mary Page has always believed the old legends - the Inland Sea, the Mahogany Ship, Lasseter's Reef. She journeys to the centre of the continent to prove she is right, and the Theory is wrong. But the expedition is a disaster. Mary and her party disappear in the central desert.Mary's son, Will, vows to find out what happened to his mother. Pursued by officials and assassins, Will follows his mother's tracks to the heart of the continent. He finds a place where fantasy and reality meet, and where the truth depends on who controls the story.

Based on in-depth research and interviews - including with Alan King Jones, Bill Leslie and 'the father of Australian diamonds', Ewen Tyler - Argyle details the almost overwhelming challenges with realising a diamond mining venture in Australia, shows how these obstacles were overcome, and explores the mine's impact and legacy.

What was behind the wall and the wire? The local people knew. Fine courtyards. An old swimming pool. Dilapidated tennis courts and a remnant garden, now wild and sprawling. The Convent: A City Finds its Heart tells the story of a site's rich history and the efforts to preserve it. This is an uplifting tale of community activism.

Across the globe, the so-called Big Four accounting and audit firms - Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and KPMG - are massively influential. Together, they earn more than US$100 billion annually and employ almost one million people. In many profound ways, they have changed how we work, how we manage, how we invest and how we are governed.Stretching back centuries, their history is a fascinating story of wealth, power and luck. But today, the Big Four face an uncertain future - thanks to their push into China; their vulnerability to digital disruption and competition; and the hazards of providing traditional services in a new era of transparency.Both colourful and authoritative, this account of the past, present and likely future of the Big Four is essential reading for anyone perplexed or fascinated by professional services, working in the industry, contemplating joining a professional services firm, or simply curious about the fate of the global economy.