Before Las Vegas made a splash, another American city ruled the gambling landscape. Situated on New Jersey’s shoreline, Atlantic City was Vegas before Vegas stole its thunder. Players nowadays can easily login and play games in Dunder online casino, but in the past, if you wanted to spin slots, Atlantic City was the place to be.
The gambling boom in AC occurred in the late 1970s when NJ legalized all forms of gambling. It resulted in an instant influx of upper-class casinos and hotels that lured players and gave them a deluxe treatment. In just a short time, Atlantic City was the USA’s primary gambling destination until Vegas stole its thunder.
Still, Atlantic City is a huge part of America’s gambling history and has served as a great setting for many books and TV shows. The biggest of them all is HBO’s Boardwalk Empire which itself has been based on a popular book.
Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City
Written by Nelson Johnson, Boardwalk Empire is the main inspiration for HBO’s hit drama show. The book was released in 2002 and it didn’t take long to become a New York Times bestseller. It’s a riveting story of Atlantic City’s history that stretches back to the prohibition era and the period of lawlessness.
In its core lays Nucky Johnson, a powerful crime figure that rules over AC in a story of corruption and a toxic power structure that details Atlantic City’s sinister past.
Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America
One of the best Boardwalk books to date, Boardwalk of Dreams was released in 2006. The book was written by Bryant Simon and tells the story of how the city turned from a middle-class resort and home of the Miss American pageant to inspiration for the Monopoly board game.
It chronicles how the urban balance in AC has shifted since the introduction of legal gambling. If you want a real story that details AC’s past, this is the book to read.
The War at the Shore by Richard D. “Skip” Bronson is a story of the war between two casino titans in Atlantic City. Bronson himself was at the center of the power struggle between Donald Trump and Steve Wynn in the mid-1990s over pieces of real estate in the coastal resort city.
The bare-knuckled fight spared no expenses and pulled no punches and all of it is detailed in this popular bestseller.
Atlantic City
One of the latest books that chronicles Atlantic City’s colorful history, Atlantic City by Brian Ross came out in 2019. It tells the story of how Atlantic City was America’s sweetheart until the casino industry killed it. Former US President Donald Trump is the villain in this story, with the author pointing out how he outsmarted Wall Street to gain personal riches.
It’s a story of how corrupt the elite are and how this played a part in Atlantic City’s booming gambling industry.
Markus lives in San Francisco, California and is the video game and audio expert on Good e-Reader! He has a huge interest in new e-readers and tablets, and gaming.