The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Fall 2001, Volume 47, Number 4
Gregg Hennessey, Editor

Book Notes

Kyle E. Ciani, Reviews Editor

Resort City in the Sunbelt: Las Vegas, 1930-2000.

By Eugene P. Moehring. Second Edition, Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2000. 392 Pages, photos, maps, notes, appendix, bibliography, index. $19.95 Paperback.

In 1989, Eugene Moehring of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas published a study of how Las Vegas grew from a little railroad town to one of the world’s major resort cities in forty years. He covered the chronological history of the city, but focused on a topical consideration of its economy, the role of minorities, efforts to diversify the economy, and the role of developers in the continually growing city. In this revision, Moehring has brought the story up to 2000. One of the things which has made Resort City in the Sunbelt unique among histories of Las Vegas is that Moehring, while noting its unique aspects, sees Las Vegas as a rather typical sunbelt city, with much in common with other metropolitan areas, such as Phoenix or San Antonio. Thus the book is both a contribution to understanding Las Vegas, and an addition to the broader literature of the sunbelt city phenomenon in post-World War II America.

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