Alicia Barber is visiting assistant professor of history at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she serves on the city's Historical Resources Commission and the board of directors of Preserve Nevada.
"In an era when societies around the world have been grappling with
the issue of how best to accommodate legalized casino gaming and
gambling with its inherent risks and rewards, Barber's book seems
particularly resonant. It provides a fascinating account of one
community's attempt to manage its image and reputation while
reaping the benefits of the morally ambiguous activities that have
been the economic lifeblood of Nevada's Biggest Little
City."--Times Literary Supplement"Barber's book, which explores the
history of Reno, Nevada, as a tourist destination from the late
nineteenth to the early twenty-first century, is a welcome
corrective to the prevalence of studies that cover much narrower
periods. . . . Her work makes a compelling case for more nuanced
scholarship on the role of image in the history of managing cities
in growth and decline."--American Historical Review"Barber traces
the ups and downs of Reno's turbulent urban development with an
engaging and energetic writing style complemented by strong
analytical insights. . . . Reno's Big Gamble is a compelling study
of one of America's most enigmatic and adaptable cities and an
excellent model for future studies of urbanism and tourism in the
American West."--Southern California Quarterly"Barber's book is
distinctly urban history, and should be read by anyone interested
in how a city responds to external and internal demands. . . . The
ultimate strength of the book is Barber's ability to make this
examination a useful case study for other cities to consider, and
for professionals to examine how the cities they are studying have
created a sense of place."--H-URBAN"An excellent contribution to
the study of how image and reality interact and affect one another.
In that regard, Barber has added an important title to the study of
the American West."--Western Historical Quarterly
"No place has worked harder than 'the biggest little city in the
world' to shape its identity and reputation. Alicia Barber tells a
fascinating story about the ways that insiders and outsiders have
constructed and reconstructed Reno's image in pursuit of the big
bonanza of economic growth."--Carl Abbott, author of The
Metropolitan Frontier: Cities in the Modern American West and
Greater Portland: Urban Life and Landscape in the Pacific Northwest
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