The Welath Of Shadows, Moore - B+

                  Ansel Luxford is a lawyer in St. Paul in 1939 when he seeks an opportunity to go to D.C. to prepare for the coming war. He obtains a position in the Treasury Dept. working in a secret unit focused on hurting the German economy. Nazi Germany is an autarky with few trading partners. He and his boss, Harry White,  approach the Brazilians at an international conference to offer them a premium in dollars over the gold Germany is paying for iron and cotton. They refuse. A Brazilian tells them they were betrayed by an American, and they learn the FBI believes that there is a Soviet agent in their department.  They conclude that the person opposing them, who planted the Soviet agent rumor is Breckenridge Long of State, a noted fascist sympathizer. They concoct plan to out Long by bringing to the attention of the White House a memo about the experimental gassing of Jews in Poland that Long buried in the archives.  Treasury Secretary Morgenthau is able to isolate Long, and give the Research Dept. the green light to proceed. Soon, all the nations of Latin America make trade deals with the US, and some agree to freeze any German money within their borders. Realizing that the Cash and Carry program that FDR had created could not work for more than a few months, Ansel and his staff create Lend-Lease. They cheer when the US enters the war.

                Three years later, the US principals are together with their friendly adversary, John Maynard Keynes, in Bretton Woods, N. H. trying to sort out the postwar order. The goal is to finance the reconstruction of the war torn countries, re-establish trade relationships, and intertwine the world's economies to the point that war just won't be an option.  Thus, the World Bank and IMF a re created.

               This is historical fiction at its best. Keynes, White, Long and Morgenthau are all noted characters in the history of the era. Long was a racist sympathizer, and White, the first chair of the IMF, was later determined to be a Soviet agent. Even Ansel Luxford is real. The author points out that "this is fiction though one that's been sketched upon a canvas of reality."