Stuart Kells is an adjunct professor at La Trobe University's College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce, and honorary senior fellow in Federation University's Collaborative Research Centre in Australian History. He was formerly a research fellow at the University of Melbourne's Melbourne Institute, and a member of Monash University's Centre for Regulatory Studies. He won the Ashurst Business Literature Prize in 2016 (for Penguin and the Lane Brothers) and in 2019 (with Prof. I. Gow, for The Big Four. His book The Library was shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award and the NSW Premier's General History Prize.