It is Shinn's appreciation of the glory of the tale that makes The story of the mine a book for today as well as a popular book of the turn of the century. No one has captured so much of the many spirits of Comstock history as Shinn does here. The book serves as well as any single book as an introduction to the greatest mining adventure in American history. - Nevada Historical Society Quarterly Shinn succeeds in describing the Comstock with the excitement and affection of an eye-witness. No later writer is his equal at it. If someone asks me what Virginia City's heyday was really like, I'll just lend him my copy of The story of the mine. He'll find everything he needs to know and more. - Reno Evening Gazette It would be hard to find a book which imparts so much information in such a readable and painless way, or one which covers so much peripheral history.