This comprehensive resource updates and expands «Gambling in America: An Encyclopedia of History, Issues, and Society» (2001).
The author visited 500 casinos on five continents. The more than 300 entries are organized into thematic sections covering “General Topics,” including economic impacts, societal factors, and the roles of government and business; “Games”; “Biographies of Leading Figures in Gambling”; and “Venues and Places,” providing detailed analysis of gambling laws and operations in many countries. The effects of the current global economic crisis are mentioned in several entries. Nearly 100 photographs capture the action.
Users are assisted by references at the end of each entry, a 15-page chronology, a 66-page extensively annotated bibliography, a full summary of leading law cases (beginning in 1849), a glossary of gambling terms, and accurate thematic and general indexes.
Also included are a selection of essays on gambling, drawn from various journals, lectures, and reports.
This work will enable researchers in many fields to follow up on the reach and depth of this topic. It will be useful in large public and academic libraries.
Written by William Norman Thompson (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), professor and gambling scholar. Most articles are written by Thompson, but others are signed or coauthored by contributors with financial, legal, and academic backgrounds. In the new work, Thompson is aided by 31 contributors from a variety of academic and government areas.
