About:
Red Dead’s History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America’s Violent Past by Tore C. Olsson looks at American history using the award-winning video game as a starting point. Mr. Olsson is a history professor who discovered the game during COVID, and is now using it as a gaming tool.
- 288 pages
- Publisher : St. Martin’s Press
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 1250287707
My rating for Red Dead’s History – 5
Buy Red Dead’s History from Amazon.com*
More Books by Tore C. Olsson *
Thoughts:
I recently started playing Red Dead Redemption, several years behind everyone, I know. I enjoy the game very much and like historical-based games like Assassin’s Creed, and a fan of Westerns so this game seemed like the was made for me.
Red Dead’s History by Tore C. Olsson is not only fascinating but very readable as well. One doesn’t have to be familiar with the game, to enjoy the book immensely. I am in the middle of part I, but I already bought the bundle of both games.
Prof. Olsson doesn’t set out to prove the game wrong, he’s a fan after all. However, he’s not afraid to call out historical mistakes and use those as a launching point for educational purposes. That being said, the game gets a lot of things right, and many other aspects are erred on the side of gameplay.
The author provides context within and outside the game. It includes not simply raw history, but political and social constructs and implications at the time to give the reader and gamer a better understanding of the history, the game, and sometimes what the developers alluded to.
The time the game takes place, 1890s, is one that Prof. Olsson considers critical to the United States, and he makes a very valid case as to why. Formative years after the Civil War where African Americans got their freedom, but not equality, immigrants arrived, Native Americans were massacred at Wounded Knee, the land runs in the West, women’s right to vote was a hot issue(an enlightening discussion in the book), and let’s not forget the Robber Barons’ era, among others.
I’m glad I read this book before playing Red Dead Redemption II. I feel it will enhance my immersive experience and give me a sense of time and place I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Buy Red Dead’s History from Amazon.com*
More Books by Tore C. Olsson *
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books





No Comments