When I was in high school in the 60s, there was a copy of this book in our school library. It was often paged through by the boys in the school because of its lurid descriptions of Las Vegas as well as a section of photos that included mob killings, show girls, and prostitution. I admit that I was drawn to the book as well and read parts of it but not the entire book. Since then, I have wanted to obtain a copy and read it to see just how lurid it actually was. Well, I found a used copy online a couple of years ago and have had it on my shelves since then. Finally got around to attempting to read it.
First of all, this book was originally published in 1963 so it is definitely dated. It was written by Ed Reid and Ovid Demaris who were newspaper journalists and investigative reporters. It is pretty much an exposé on the origins of Las Vegas and how the mob was prevalent in its origins from the 1940s to the 1960s. The book gives detail after detail of the various casinos in Las Vegas and the mob connections of the owners. This starts out with Bugsy Siegal and his Flamingo Hotel that he built way over budget and subsequently was unable to make a profit on it after its opening in 1946. The mob did not take kindly to this and Siegal was murdered on June 20, 1947. The book goes on to describe other Las Vegas casinos and their owners, mob connections, and related murders. Politicians and celebrities were also connected to these nefarious operations including Barry Goldwater and Frank Sinatra. Goldwater was associated with Gus Greenbaum who took over running the Flamingo after Siegal's death. And then there was Jimmy Hoffa who was involved in payoffs and schemes related to real estate transactions. Also included in the book was a chapter on prostitution and its prevalence in the casinos as well as chapters that included information about paid-off politicians, tax evasion, and extortion.
This book provides the early history of the Las Vegas and documents the time prior to the transition from gangster control of the city to its clean-up and purchase of the casinos by legitimate companies. I actually ended up skimming a lot of the book which told of the various members of the mob and their cohorts. There were some paragraphs that went on and on listing the names of these people who I will never remember. I would only recommend this to someone interested in the seedy side of Las Vegas history.
First of all, this book was originally published in 1963 so it is definitely dated. It was written by Ed Reid and Ovid Demaris who were newspaper journalists and investigative reporters. It is pretty much an exposé on the origins of Las Vegas and how the mob was prevalent in its origins from the 1940s to the 1960s. The book gives detail after detail of the various casinos in Las Vegas and the mob connections of the owners. This starts out with Bugsy Siegal and his Flamingo Hotel that he built way over budget and subsequently was unable to make a profit on it after its opening in 1946. The mob did not take kindly to this and Siegal was murdered on June 20, 1947. The book goes on to describe other Las Vegas casinos and their owners, mob connections, and related murders. Politicians and celebrities were also connected to these nefarious operations including Barry Goldwater and Frank Sinatra. Goldwater was associated with Gus Greenbaum who took over running the Flamingo after Siegal's death. And then there was Jimmy Hoffa who was involved in payoffs and schemes related to real estate transactions. Also included in the book was a chapter on prostitution and its prevalence in the casinos as well as chapters that included information about paid-off politicians, tax evasion, and extortion.
This book provides the early history of the Las Vegas and documents the time prior to the transition from gangster control of the city to its clean-up and purchase of the casinos by legitimate companies. I actually ended up skimming a lot of the book which told of the various members of the mob and their cohorts. There were some paragraphs that went on and on listing the names of these people who I will never remember. I would only recommend this to someone interested in the seedy side of Las Vegas history.
