Roger Clark, who performs Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2, is about to relate an audiobook that appears at American historical past via the lens of Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption video games.
Clark narrates historian Tore Olsson’s ‘Red Dead’s History’ in character as Arthur Morgan, protagonist of Rockstar’s critically acclaimed open-world epic.
Red Dead’s History explores the “wildly dramatic and gritty world” of America from 1870 to 1920. 2010’s Red Dead Redemption and its prequel, 2018’s Red Dead Redemption 2, set in 1911 and 1899 respectively, have been praised for his or her genuine portrayal of life throughout the decline of the American frontier. Within the e-book, Olsson digs into the element offered in the video games and provides context from real-world American historical past.
Right here’s the official blurb:
“Weaving collectively the fictional characters and plot of the Red Dead Redemption video games with real-life historic vignettes, Olsson reveals that the action-packed violence of the Red Dead universe isn’t simply spawned from Hollywood westerns however rooted in actual sociopolitical points from turn-of-the-century America.”
IGN spoke with faculty historical past professor Tore Olsson, who in addition to writing books teaches the world’s first Red Dead Redemption historical past class on the College of Tennessee, to debate the work. (Try the interview in full for an interesting look into the Red Dead Redemption video games and their historic “thoughtfulness”, as Olsson places it.) Here is a snippet:
“It got here as an epiphany after I sat down in the midst of the pandemic in 2020, and performed Red Dead Redemption 2 for the primary time. I used to be solely about 10 hours in, and all these historic nodes in my mind are firing left and proper. I can’t flip off my historian id after I’m taking part in. And I’m actually genuinely shocked at how traditionally considerate the video games have been. I’m not a lot obsessive about this query of accuracy that will get bandied round quite a bit, once you speak about historic video video games. I’m extra in thoughtfulness and the methods a recreation tries to seize the temper and the sensation and the vary of choices and the realities of a time interval. And I assumed the sport did a surprisingly good job at that.”
IGN additionally spoke to Roger Clark himself, who revealed why he needed to be concerned with the challenge, mentioned the making of Red Dead Redemption 2, and teased what’s subsequent.
The audiobook version of Red Dead’s History can be revealed by Macmillan Audio on August 6, 2024 and can be accessible at Audible, Apple Books, or wherever audiobooks are offered.
Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You’ll be able to attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.