DESCRIPTION: From well-heeled mobsters and glamorous showgirls, fantastical mega-casinos and dazzling displays of neon, Las Vegas is the world’s most famous monument to reckless abandon and unbridled excess.


Written in conjunction with the PBS American Experience series and coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the city, Las Vegas: An Unconventional History documents the often surprising and endlessly entertaining history of America’s most outrageous playground. The story ranges from the Mormon missionaries who came to the area for the natural springs, to the shady, mob-connected gamblers and cardsharps who built and ruled the city, from the eccentric and visionary millionaires who bought up casinos like penny candy, to the visitors who have flocked to this desert mecca for more than a century.


Accompanying the text are essays by four of today’s most prominent writers: Dave Hickey’s ruminations on Vegas’s unique brand of freedom and democracy, Marc Cooper’s reminiscence of a wild night playing blackjack at the Stardust—with his mother, Max Rudin’s meditations on the roots of Rat Pack cool, and Jim McManus’s musings on the art and little-known history of poker.


With lavish illustrations and lively prose, Las Vegas: An Unconventional History is as surprising as an inside straight and as satisfying as hitting 7 or 11 on your come-out roll.