About the Author

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.

Reviews

"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