Banker, hotel owner, and political powerhouse George Wingfield was a significant figure in Nevada history. He was influential in developing Reno's gambling-and-divorce-related tourism. Raymond's biography depicts the man and his times, from his birth in Arkansas in 1876 until his death in Reno in 1959. Wilbur S. Shepperson Series in History and Humanities.

Banker, hotel owner, and political powerhouse George Wingfield (1876-1959) was one of the most significant figures in Nevada’s history. He was the prime force behind the start-up of its tourism and gambling industries. Raymond’s biography details every step of his remarkable climb to power, his staggering fall into bankruptcy, and a phoenix-like rise with a second fortune in gold mining.

Over 157 years ago—before there was a Reno, Nevada; before there was a state of Nevada; and even before there was a Nevada Territory—there was a bridge over the Truckee River at a narrow, deeply rutted cattle and wagon trail that would one day become Virginia Street. There was also a small rustic inn and tavern occupying a plot of ground at the southern end of the log-and-timber bridge, catering to thirsty cowboys, drovers, and miners. The inn and the bridge were the first two structures in what would one day be a bustling metropolitan area, and to this day they still form the nucleus of the city. The Genesis of Reno traces their history up to the present day. The 111 year-old concrete bridge that was replaced in 2016 by a magnificent new structure was honored for its longevity and unique character with placement on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Today, interest in monetary history has been revived. Economists are examing the "structure" of money and banking: what is money and what are banks? With new technologies, overwhelming market forces, and changes in law and regulation, the answers that had been taken for granted have been revealed to be inadequate. Money and Banking spans the period from the founding of the country to the present. The unifying theme is the consideration of the legal and economic underpinnings of money and banking during the several monetary regimes found in the history of the United States. Contributors: Clifford F. Thies, Kevin Dowd, Richard H. Timberlake, J. Huston McCulloch, Gregory B. Christainsen, Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, Eugene N. White, James A. Dorn, Gary M. Pecquet, Tyler Cowen, George A. Selgin and Lawrence H. White, Richard Sylla, Robert L. Greenfield and Hugh Rockoff, Joesph T. Salerno, Anna J. Schwartz, Charles W. Calomiris, Ronald W. Batchelder and David Glasner, Michael D. Bordo, Mark Toma, Larry Schweikart, Dwight R. Lee.