Description
This interpretive history of Nevada is partly a social and political statement that draws on technical, historical, and political documents. But more than that, it is a personal testimonial by author James Hulse, whose childhood in Pioche during the Depression and World War II, service as a reporter in Reno during the 1940s and 1950s, and tenure as a history professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, have given him a unique insight into the state.

In the first four chapters, Hulse evaluates the state’s limited resources, migratory patterns, unstable population, and uneven regional growth from 1940 to 1980. In the last three chapters, he raises thoughtful questions about the state’s key source of revenue, gambling.

The author suggests that the basic criteria to be used in measuring the true value of the institution of gambling are found within its contributions to social legislation, education, artistic endeavor, and cultural progress—in short, to investigate the industry’s stimulation of the whole fabric of community life. But Hulse does more than diagnose the situation—he demands action. In brief, he wants Nevada to prosper, but with culture and morality as major objectives.

Reviews
“Bar none, Forty Years in the Wilderness is the most courageous, comprehensive study of Nevada in recent history.”
—Nevada Historical Society Quarterly

“…a valuable and easily read volume.”
—The Desert Church