Meet the explorers, builders, outlaws, gamblers, entrepreneurs, and 14-karat characters who transformed Las Vegas from a desert watering hole into the extraordinary city it is today. A D Hopkins and K J Evans of the Las Vegas Review Journal have compiled 100 in-depth profiles of the remarkable men and women who ushered Las Vegas to the forefront of popular culture. This far-reaching roundup of notable Southern Nevadans includes explorer John C Fremont, pioneers O D Gass and Helen J Stewart, mob boss Bugsy Siegel, cowboy gambler Benny Binion, millionaire eccentric Howard Hughes, Rat Pack crooner Frank Sinatra, and flamboyant showman Liberace, as well as contemporary movers and shakers E Parry Thomas, Kirk Kerkorian, Irwin Molasky, Jerry Tarkanian, Bob Stupak, and Steve Wynn. Illustrated with hundreds of black and white photographs culled from the private collections of dozens of individuals, the files of state and city agencies, and the vast archives of the Las Vegas Review Journal, this classic collection of condensed biographies brings the history of Las Vegas alive in a way no other book has before.