This is amazingly good, a valuable history even for those of us who don't play Red Dead Redemption: it describes RDR's version of late-19th-century US history and explains where it succeeds and where it falls short without spending so much time on the game as to forfeit a non-player's interest. Excellent discussions (listed in no particular order) of, among other topics:

- western US expansion and the expulsion and genocide of Native peoples
- the environmental catastrophe that was the mass slaughter of bison
- the timber-and-coal pillaging of Appalachia, with the destruction of the subsistence-farming "yeomanry" and of the commons
- chattel slavery and the rise of King Cotton
- Reconstruction and "Redemption" (not in the game's sense -- in the "Lost Cause" sense)
- the rise of "Lost Cause" mythology and the ubiquity and propaganda purpose of Confederate monuments
- African American resistance to white supremacism
- how white advocates of women's suffrage betrayed African American women in order to get the 19th Amendment passed
- Progressivism and the undermining of potential alliance between poor whites and African Americans

All this in lively, clear prose.

My one criticism is that the generally excellent narrator --Roger Clark, who voices the game's protagonist, Arthur Morgan -- speaks too slowly -- at least, too slowly for my fast-talking Northeasterner taste. I listened at 1.25 speed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. Strongly recommended.

I found this book to be very approachable and informative. It felt well researched and paid attention to complex historical nuance. I’m not a gamer myself, but I enjoyed following the fictional story of Arthur Morgan, the main protagonist of the game. I think this book will appeal to both gamers and people like me who like historical fiction and have a casual interest in history.

The audiobook is narrated by Roger Clark. I loved his approach. It felt like the book was being narrated by a videogame character. The introduction and closing are read by the author himself. I thought this was a nice touch. For me it made those sections feel very genuine, because the author was speaking directly to me as a reader about why he took on this project.

I’m not a gamer, but many of the student patrons of the library in which I work are. Despite this, I have found things to like about Red Dead Redemption 2, thanks to the open world-style walking tours that gamers post to YouTube. The depth and historical accuracy of the fictional city of St. Denis, obviously modeled on New Orleans, grabbed my attention. The rich detail and artistic quality of the worldbuilding in RDR2 makes one want to know more about the game’s creators. It’s a bit like how, white reading a particularly well researched and written nonfiction history book, one spends time reading the notes for each chapter, curious about looking up the author’s sources because the entire reading experience was so good.

Historian and professor Olsson discusses his own experience of playing the game, and his own keen observations about historical omissions and inaccuracies -- it is a game, after all, not a book, so there’s awareness that there may be many reasons that such omissions or alterations exist. Olsson honestly and carefully discusses the horrific real-life racial violence of the United States and describes the historical references within RDR2 gameplay. The recounting of historical atrocities against Indigenous and Black people, both enslaved and free, is clear and intense; people that think they already know these histories will find compelling details here, and a sense of warning about history repeating itself. Olsson is such a powerful writer that I was somewhat surprised when the audiobook ended because it was so engrossing. Just as a game player may become absorbed by an open world game, readers will be fascinated by this book. Those lucky enough to listen to the audiobook will enjoy Roger Clark’s deep voice and regional accent. There is much to learn here both for people living in and trying to better understand North America and for people interested in gaming, game design, and learning the craft of storytelling. As a Reference Librarian, I recommend this for both academic (popular culture studies, game design, history for patrons that don’t usually read nonfiction history) and public libraries.

Red Dead's History is an fascinating, eye-opening look at a changing America as portrayed in the video game Red Dead Redemption II. Professor Tore C. Olsson presents easily digestible chapters about the regions and issues encountered in the game and teases out what the game gets right and wrong. And it gets a lot of if right.

I imagine that the book's chapters are structured similarly to how Olsson organized the course he taught on the subject, as each chapter feels like a neatly packed lecture. Pair this with the dulcet tones of Roger Clark (the voice actor of the main character from Red Dead Redemption II), and you have a wonderful and informative listening experience.

One quick side bar: The subtitle of the book might lead one to think that the book is about the development or cultural impact of the video game. This book is primarily focused on American history and uses the video game as a lens or entry point. Fans of the game will gain a deeper appreciation of the context of the story, but no behind the scenes of the game.

This review will be posted to Goodreads on August 8, 2024.

Gritty and engaging, this deep dive into the true stories of Red Dead is a fascinating journey into the Old West. With an entertaining narrative style and engrossing historical context, you’ll be able to enjoy exploring this era regardless of your experience with the game. Really fascinating!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

If you are interested in gaming, you will enjoy this read. History lover? Yes, you are going to like this one. Enjoy history AND gaming? You will be in heaven.

I have never thought about pairing history and gaming, but the author showed it could be done. While most games are not true to history (and in many cases, this game is not always true to history), Red Dead's History does a fantastic job of linking the game and history together.

While the game focuses on one area, history shows it actually happened sooner - however, it also gives a glimpse into the past, and shares in a way that keeps viewers engaged, and perhaps learning a bit as they go.

Interesting read, with some very slow spots (not slow enough to make me stop reading), but enjoyable all around. I will have to think about sharing this pairing with my students in the future.

This nonfiction work is written by a college professor and examines the historical context of the Red Dead Redemption games, some of the most popular video games in the U.S. The author’s goal is to examine how well the games depict American history, what elements are fact, which are fiction, and which are somewhere in between.

While I do enjoy gaming, I’ve never played these games. However, I’ve certainly seen them out and about and know folks who love them. I honestly just came here for the history and I wasn’t disappointed. The author presented the history well, separating it out by the areas of the game that are included in its world (The West, The South, Appalachia, etc.). This was a good way to organize the book and helped to keep the context clear.

I enjoyed how well everything was presented, as well as how often the author was able to compare the events and characters in the game with real life. The author also included some interesting facts relating to common misconceptions that are held about this time in history in the U.S. and how the game sometimes challenges them but also sometimes falls into them.

If you’re a history buff who is extremely knowledgeable about the 1870s-1890s in U.S. history, then you may not find anything new in this read. But as someone who has only general knowledge of this time, I learned a decent amount from this one and certainly recommend it. The narrator’s voice was perfect the perfect choice for this audiobook and added much to the experience. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work, which will be published August 6, 2024. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Let me start by saying that having Roger Clark a.k.a. Arthur Morgan narrate a book on Red Dead Redemption and how it ties into the actual history of the United States was a brilliant move on the authors part. I would have read the book either way, but when I found out, I could listen to "Arthur Morgan" for for 10½ hours... Sign me up, please! My family went on a road trip across the country this month for our summer family vacation. We drove through many of the states discussed in this book. My husband is not a reader and usually doesn't care for my audiobooks. But with that said, he found himself having a hard time tooning out the stories told in this book. The author does a great job making history come alive through the retelling of stories that helped shape the "southern" and "western" part of the united state in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The chapters were nicely broken up by different subjects. Each one took roughly 30 minutes to listen to. It was easy to listen to one or two and then take a break and pick it back up later. I didn't just enjoy the book because of the narrator. However, I think the author did a great job tying the video game itself into the book, referencing the game to reflect actual historical events and people. Overall, I'd give the book itself a 4 star rating. Thank you, netgalley, for sharing this book with me in exchange for my honest review.

Have you ever started a book thinking it was one thing, and then finding out its completely different? Yep, that just happened to me.

To be fair, I had no idea that Red Dead [Revolver, Redeption, and Redemption 2] was a video game [as I don't play video games and never have], so I'm actually not really sure what I thought this book was about, but a book about a video game and its historically accurate narrative was not it.

Thankfully, this is a compulsively readable [and amazing] book, just what a history-nerd like me loves - a book filled with history that is also played out within the game of Red Dead Redemption 2 and how they work together [which was fascinating]. And it is some amazing history. The author breaks down each section of the game and what the history that is presented means. Much of the history talked about I already knew [thogh a refresher is always a good thing], but there were definitely thing I did NOT know [the Southern Appalachians part was fascinating, eye-opening and VERY illuminating and I learned a lot], and I reveled in the learning.

A truly excellent, well-written and researched book, that I truly enjoyed every second of [wellllll, maybe not the video game parts that I just didn't understand - I am just so clueless there], and even though it was not what I expected, it was a very worthwhile read.

Roger Clark gives voice to a major character in the game [Arthur I think?] and he now narrated this book, and does an excellent job at it. He truly brings the history to life, and helps to engage the listener to the very history he is speaking. For the full experience [whether you play the game or not], I highly recommend the audiobook and his excellent performance.

I was asked to read/review this book by the publisher St. Martin's Press, and I would like to thank them, Tore C. Olsson, Roger Clark - Narrator, and Macmillan Audio for providing the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

A popular history book that I found interesting despite never playing the video game thay was the main subject in the book. I learned some things about US history and am interested in playing the game now.

I thought that this was a very well researched and written book. The content is engaging and made for a broad audience. Readers and listeners will learn a lot of valuable, real, de-mythicized history of the American West. It will be especially appreciated by those who played the game on which this is based. The only critique I have is the narration. The narrator, Roger Clark, also voiced the main protagonist of Red Dead Redemption 2, Arthur Morgan. In the game, Morgan has relatively few lines and is the player's window into the game world. This makes the voice acting effective, as the player is Arthur Morgan. However, in an audiobook format, that effect is gone. The narration is distracting from the content and somewhat diminishes the characteristics of Clark's voice acting that makes his Arthur Morgan so engaging. This is my only major critique and one that I believe would be best left out of the audiobook mostly if not completely. Maybe a reading of Morgan's lines or an introduction by Clark, but only that. I will, of course, still refer this book to friends and colleagues. It is a well written, scholarly, and engaging work!

So dark, and so good. I didn’t expect as much history as we got in this one, I figured it would be more on the studio who made the game and there is that, but it was all well balanced. So cool to hear the narrator being the voice of John from the game. Anybody who loves RD like me, will enjoy this one.

This was a solid book. I enjoy Olsson's writing in this book and I liked the setting up of the world. Very exciting and a highly impactful story