RED DEAD'S HISTORY: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past, solid read about a very interesting subject

RED DEAD'S HISTORY: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past
TORE C. OLSSON
St. Martin's Press
$30.00, hardcover, available now

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: A pathbreaking new way to examine US history, through the lens of a bestselling video game

Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption II, set in 1911 and 1899, are the most-played American history video games since The Oregon Trail. Beloved by millions, they’ve been widely acclaimed for their realism and attention to detail. But how do they fare as recreations of history?

In this engaging book, award-winning American history professor Tore Olsson takes up that question and more. Weaving the games’ plot and characters into an exploration of American violence between 1870 and 1920, Olsson shows that it was more often disputes over capitalism and race, not just poker games and bank robberies, that fueled the bloodshed of these turbulent years. As such, this era has much to teach us today. From the West to the Deep South to Appalachia, Olsson reveals the gritty and brutal world that inspired the games, but sometimes lacks context and complexity on the digital screen. Colorful, fast-paced, and dramatic, Red Dead’s History sheds light on dark corners of the American past for gamers and history buffs alike.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: I don't play these kinds of games, even ones based on history, so I approach the books about games and gaming like I would explications of religious texts. This is fascinating, I think, why do people get invested in this stuff? I have never found an answer to that but I have definitely learned to appreciate the skill and craft of storytelling involved in creating these interactive spaces.

No exception here. The author is a (tenured! Go Doc!) college professor trained to teach US history specifically, so has a deep knowledge of the universe the game discussed here inhabits; being a child of the time when games like this were in their infancy, and by his own admission an addicted game player until he went to college, he's brilliantly...almost uniquely...suited to see the game universe, more importantly this game and its universe, from both its important axes.

After a long absence from the gaming world spent building and solidifying a career, the author got the giant clonk on the noggin that was the COVID pandemic. His life was upended and the time budget entailed in being an academic completely altered. What better way to use his time than rediscovering gaming, especially since a hot game of the time was Red Dead Redemption? History plus gaming equaled irresistible. The history content of the game was solid...and sometimes not.

If there is better bait for a hook meant for academics, I do not know of it.

As one might expect from a history professor, the "not" side gets the bulk of the attention. It's not presented in a "GOTCHA!!" way. The facts are presented, the footnote corroborates his source, and on we move. For a reader accustomed to accusatory fact-correcting, that might lessen the interest. For me it was a balm. If a fact isn't supported by historiography, but is supported by the needs of gameplay, this is noted. Doesn't make him call it correct, just...noted.

As an opportunity to spread knowledge of US history, this book would not be my first suggestion. It is not a fast-paced trip down History's highway; it is not a slow meander through the woods, examining the flora and spotting the fauna. It is a solid, readable work of game analysis as this intersects with actual history, contextualized by very interesting meditations on what the choice of historical background, and the alterations to historiography, say about both gaming and overall culture.

I was never bored, or even disengaged from, the story. For context recall that I am well into my seventh decade on Earth, and had no concept of home computing as a thing until the early Eighties. I liked card games and board games as a kid. Dungeons and Dragons felt like math class to me. And my interest was held. I hope that tells you what kind of work this is: Quality thinking expressed clearly and organized well.

It didn't make me excited, gave me no frisson, so I can't add a fifth star. It is a solid, thought provoking read about two subjects of great interest to me, and very probably of even greater to those who skew towards interest in gaming than I do.