The colorful history of Nevada fills this 232-page, 7"x10", soft cover book. Pictures of the characters, places, & events, & the informative maps -- 223 illustrations -- show the reader what Nevada looked like as it moved from the pre-historic culture of the Indians to the modern state of tourism, gaming, mining, & ranching. It describes the ancient lifeways of the Indians of the Great Basin & tells how the Great Basin differs geographically from the rest of the nation. It tells of the trail blazers, their early explorations & the wagon roads west. The book tells of the importance of Nevada mining in the mid-nineteenth century to the state & the nation, & how it helped develop San Francisco. One can see how the miners & the ranchers shaped the character of Nevada as it is today. The book describes the development of gambling in Nevada as a natural heritage of the mining boom towns, & how gaming & tourism developed the communities of Reno, Lake Tahoe & Las Vegas. The reader gets to see how the geographical influence of the Great Basin & the social & economic influence of gaming as an industry make Nevada different from any other state.