A very brief history of Nevada's legal gambling.

There is a lot of good information in this book, but at times (mainly dealing with the earliest origins of Las Vegas) it can be very dense, dry reading. It gets a bit tedious when it begins listing the names of those who owned, operated or had a piece/percentage of the early clubs, often reading like some sort of legal document presenting a history of property ownership more than anything else.

Towards the second half of the book it gets much better as the author seems to relax and relate more of the human side of those early empire builders who were really interesting characters (perhaps the difference is that many of these were more of the loner variety so the author can concentrate on a single person rather than listing more names).

The book is at its best when offering brief glimpses of the entertainers who came and went as Nevada gambling grew and prospered, also when discussing in more detail some of the more colorful people who made or lost their fortunes during those same years.

The epilogue would have been better served as a prologue (or even as a blurb on the back cover) since it explains that the author is trying to present a "glimpse at the history of Nevada's legalized gambling since its inception in 1931, through its Golden Anniversary in 1981."

This book would make a nice starting point for someone looking to get basic facts about Nevada's early gambling history.

***I received this book as part of a free promotional giveaway contest. ( )