Coming Spring 2025 · Pre-Order Now
In The Shadow Of The Limelight
The untold story of Las Vegas
The untold story of the families, dreamers, and dealmakers who built Las Vegas from the desert floor up — told by someone who was there.
4,200+ readers on the waitlist
"Las Vegas wasn't built by luck. It was built by people who refused to bet against their own vision."
From the introduction
What You'll Discover
A book that changes how you see everything
The Real Founders
Before the casinos, before the neon, before the Strip — there were families. Discover the merchants, builders, and visionaries who laid the foundations of a city the world would come to know.
Money, Power & the Mob
Follow the money through the back rooms and boardrooms of mid-century Las Vegas. A city built on risk, run by ambition, and shaped by forces that rarely made the front page.
The Women Who Ran It
Behind every great casino was a woman keeping the books, managing the staff, and holding the whole operation together. Their stories have waited long enough.
A City Reinvented
From dusty railroad town to global entertainment capital in a single generation. Barbara Stoll-Frank traces the transformation decade by decade, block by block.
Choose Your Edition
Every reader, every format
Ebook
Digital Edition
$14.99
- Full ebook (EPUB & PDF)
- Exclusive bonus chapter: The Mob, the Money & the Mojave
- Reading group guide
- Instant delivery on release day
Paperback
Standard Edition
$24.99
- Signed paperback copy
- Full ebook included
- Exclusive bonus chapter: The Mob, the Money & the Mojave
- 16-page photo insert: rare archival Las Vegas images
- Reading group guide
- Free shipping (US)
Hardcover
Collector's Edition
$49.99
- Signed & numbered hardcover
- Full ebook included
- Exclusive bonus chapter: The Mob, the Money & the Mojave
- 32-page full-color photo insert
- Printed author letter
- Collector's slipcase with vintage Vegas artwork
- Priority shipping worldwide
Early Praise
What readers are saying
I grew up in Las Vegas and thought I knew its history. This book showed me how wrong I was — and how much richer the real story is. I couldn't put it down.
Dr. Sarah Okonkwo
Professor of American History, UNLV
The energy leaps off every page. You can practically hear the slot machines and smell the cigarette smoke. This is Las Vegas history told the way it deserves to be — with all the drama and none of the sanitizing.
Marcus Delgado
Las Vegas Native, third generation
Barbara Stoll-Frank writes with the authority of someone who lived it and the skill of someone who has spent decades learning how to tell it. Essential reading.
Renata Voss
Author, The Neon Desert
A love letter to the real Las Vegas. Meticulously researched, beautifully written, and impossible to put down. I finished it in two sittings.
James Whitfield
Editor, Western History Quarterly
Questions & Answers
Everything you need to know
About the Author
Barbara Stoll-Frank
Las Vegas Native, born 1955
Business Owner
Banking, Real Estate & Hospitality
Barbara Stoll-Frank
Barbara Stoll-Frank was born in Las Vegas in 1955, the daughter of parents who came to start a Service Business within the Hotels but died early. She was raised by her Aunt and Uncle who were owners of Hotel/Motels in Downtown Las Vegas. She grew up in the shadow of the Strip and Downtown, watching a city reinvent itself in real time — and wondering why the people who actually built it were never the ones being celebrated.
After a career spanning banking, real estate, and hospitality, Barbara spent fifteen years interviewing the families, workers, and entrepreneurs whose stories had been overlooked by the official histories. The result is In The Shadow Of The Limelight — a book she describes as 'the Las Vegas I grew up in, finally on the page.'
As a business owner herself, Barbara understands what it takes to build something from nothing in a city that rewards boldness and punishes hesitation. In The Shadow Of The Limelight is her love letter to the Las Vegas she knows — the real one, built by families with vision, grit, and an unshakeable belief that the desert could shine.
"I didn't just write about Las Vegas. I grew up inside it."
— Barbara Stoll-Frank
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