Red Dead's History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past

For context, I have played through 'Red Dead Redemption' twice and 'RDR 2' upwards of 5 times. I have obtained the platinum trophies (I play on PlayStation) for both games. Anyone who's played the games, and is familiar with trophy/achievement hunting, knows how big a task that is. 100% completing these games can easily take over 100 hours each using a guide, and plenty more without. Collectively, including my time playing for sheer enjoyment rather than trophies, I have played the 'Red Dead' series for at least 1000 hours. So, before I got my hands on this book, I felt there was nothing left to excite me about the series, other than the quality of the game itself. I've researched most, if not all of the lore. I've found all the treasure and chance encounters with NPCs. I've played with and without cheats activated. I've even experimented with glitches and such. I thought I was done. Then, I caught wind of the existence of Prof. Olsson's book. I ordered it the same day I heard about it. After reading the preface, I was a bit concerned that this book would shoot holes (pun intended) in the old-west fantasy these games have helped create in my mind. A fantasy that I cherish and that, in some ways, have changed me for the better as a person. I didn't want that ruined with hard-to-digest facts about what life was actually like in, and around, the years that the games take place. I was happy in my ignorance, or so I thought. To my surprise (and relief), with each chapter I read, I actually found myself feeling more excited for yet another playthrough of the games, as I gradually began to realize that I would now better understand the references, inspirations and situational relevance. Instead of destroying my Red Dead-born fantasy of the old west, this book actually helps to guide and clarify it. As a Black-American man who is painfully aware that my actual experience in the time period of these games would have been vastly different from my fantasies, I find it helpful to have a better understanding of to what extent, as explained in chapter 8. As a player who did enjoy the later chapters of RDR2 involving the characters Rains Fall and Eagle Flies, I admittedly did not quite understand the significance of those missions beyond my own, very surface-level knowledge of the actual 'Indian Wars'. Now, thanks to this book, those missions will have the impact on me that I believe the game's developers intended. These are just two examples of how thoroughly (yet palatably) 'Red Dead's History' covers and explains the contents of the games. Since reading this book, I've been "Mr. Did-You-Know?" to my poor wife, who is also a gamer, but has yet to play the RDR series. I sense her interest is growing, though, after seeing my rekindled excitement for the games after reading this book. I highly recommend 'Read Dead's History' to anyone with even a modicum of interest in the history of the United States, but I even more highly recommend it to fans of the game who, like most of us, wish we could play the game for the first time again. Reading this book and then re-playing the games with the knowledge the book provides is as close as we're going to get until RDR 3 is hopefully released at some point in the future. A massive thank you to Prof. Tore C. Olsson for this work. I very much envy the lucky students who got to take your college course on the subject.

I came for the narration by Arthur Morgan (Rodger Clark) but stayed for the deep discussion on American history in the 1800s.

I got this for my step dad. He loves history, and I love Red Dead. He did actually read it and now we have more to talk about.

A brief history of the setting of Red Dead Redemption. This would be very similar to an introductory course of Western American history in college. The author introduces a topic, supports his thesis, and quickly moves on to the next. A quick and entertaining read covering 21 topics.

Fantastic book. If you are a lover of RDR2 and history, then this book ia for you. Not only did it cause me to replay RDR2 for a 4th playthrough but it learnt me a lot of things about American history.

My son is a huge fan of Red Red Redemption and I have been very happily suprised how much history he had unwittingly picked up by playing. When I heard about the book coming out, I bought him the audiobook, read by star of the video game and the hardback as well hoping it might entice him. He was out the day the book arrived, so I thought I’d give it a light look through. Right away, I read about history I had no idea about and found the book a great blend of discussing the parts of the game and a deeper dive into what was actually going on at the time (and earlier as the history shown in the game reflect an earlier period than it states). My son and I shared the book back and forth and I really appreciate the book was something he eagerly read during summer break and that it lit the fire in him to want to discuss it with me. As a mom of a teenager, it was a minor miracle and the fact that I was able to enjoyed it, too was great. It was absolutely inspired that Tore took this route to incorporate gaming to explain history first in his class and how he helped his students to a certain level experience certain aspects by pointing out signage in the game and so forth. I wish there were classes like this when I went to college and am very thankful he took the route of writing the book so the understanding could be offered more widely.

I bought Red Dead’s History for my son, who’s absolutely obsessed with the games, and he hasn’t put it down since. It’s packed with fascinating behind-the-scenes details, historical context, and artwork that really bring the world of Red Dead to life. The writing is engaging enough to keep him hooked for hours, and even I found myself flipping through just to admire the visuals. A must-have for anyone who loves the series and wants to dive deeper into its story and inspirations.

Such a great book, it enriches the gameplay and the overall understanding of RDD2.

This book is incredible way to show how the creators of the game leaned on American history to create the in game lore. Wonderful read

I knew I would find this book interesting even before ordering it, but having read it now it exceeds my expectations. Riveting, well structured and highly relevant to anyone interested in US history, not only to fans of RDR2.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I wanted to learn more about the history of the American west. Being a big RDR2 fan, using the context of the game alongside real events helped me paint a picture of what life was like in 1899 America. The book doesn’t talk about the events of the game at length, it focuses more on the real life story and comparing the two narratives. I’d certainly recommended it, couldn’t put the book down.