The Wealth of Shadows

Screenwriter and novelist Moore (The Holdout) walks a fine line between fact and fiction in this flat historical thriller about the U.S. Treasury Department’s efforts to undermine the Nazi war machine. Leading the action are two real-life figures: Treasury official Harry White and his underling, Ansel Luxford, a tax attorney from Minneapolis recruited in 1939 to figure out a way to sabotage Germany’s economy without involving the U.S. military. Despite pulling all the financial levers at their disposal, from trade wars to surveillance, White and Luxford meet a series of dead ends. In response, they use their expertise to help England boost its military offensives against Germany, a move that brings them into close contact with Churchill adviser John Maynard Keynes. The allies’ efforts climax at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, where world leaders discuss how to use a global currency—the dollar—to prevent future wars. Despite attempts to enliven the plot with snappy prose (“We’re going to learn how it works, and then we’re going to light the son of a bitch on fire,” one character exclaims about the German economy), Moore too often gets bogged down by extended discussions of the intricacies of international currency exchange and other financial matters. This may appeal to students of monetary policy, but others are likely to find it dull. Agent: Jennifer Joel, CAA. (May)