
Red Dead's History
A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Roger Clark
-
By:
-
Tore C. Olsson
About this listen
"A must-listen for fans of the beloved game."—Den of Geek
This program is read by Roger Clark, the iconic and award-winning full performance-capture actor of Red Dead Redemption 2's Arthur Morgan, who returns to the wildly dramatic and gritty world of the American frontier in this audiobook edition of Red Dead's History. It also features a prologue and epilogue read by the author.
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 re-creations of history?
In this engaging audiobook, award-winning American history professor Tore Olsson takes up that question and more. Weaving the games’ plots 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.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.
©2024 Tore C. Olsson (P)2024 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Dead Acre
- By: Rhett C. Bruno, Jaime Castle
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Crowley met his mortal end in a hail of gunfire. Now, he finds himself in purgatory, serving the White Throne to avoid falling to hell. Not quite undead, though not alive either, the best he can hope for is to work off his servitude and fade away. His not-so-sacred duty as a Hand of God? Use his new abilities to hunt down demonic beings that have infiltrated the mortal realm. This time, the White Throne has sent him to the middle of nowhere: a Western town called Dead Acre with a saloon, a moldy church, and little else worth talking about. There isn’t even a sheriff.
-
-
Incredible Must Read
- By Heather Stark on 11-25-20
By: Rhett C. Bruno, and others
-
Billy the Kid
- The War for Lincoln County
- By: Ryan C. Coleman
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1870s New Mexico, the territory is at a crossroads. The indigenous population is being driven out—and driven down—by the white settlers migrating west after the Civil War. The center of power isn’t the governor but rather the Santa Fe Ring, a group of wealthy politicians, businessman, and landowners who exercise power through organized crime, theft, graft, and murder. Their main source of income is a mercantile store in Lincoln known as the House.
-
-
Excellent performance from the narrator, the story itself was well written
- By Amazon Customer on 11-15-24
By: Ryan C. Coleman
-
Jacked
- The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto
- By: David Kushner
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grand Theft Auto is one of the biggest and most controversial videogame franchises of all time. Since its first release in 1997, GTA has pioneered the use of everything from 3D graphics to the voices of top Hollywood actors and repeatedly transformed the world of gaming. Despite its incredible innovations in the $75 billion game industry, it has also been a lightning rod of debate, spawning accusations of ethnic and sexual discrimination, glamorizing violence, and inciting real-life crimes.
-
-
Kushner Writes Well, Verner Drops the Ball
- By L. Productions on 03-24-13
By: David Kushner
-
Blood and Lies
- Agent of the Throne: Warhammer 40,000, Book 1
- By: John French
- Narrated by: Colleen Prendergast, Steve Conlin, Cliff Chapman, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Ianthe, war is all too familiar. A former soldier in the Astra Militarum, she now serves Inquisitor Covenant as an agent of the Throne. Her first mission sees her investigating a cult called the Children of Eternity. Falling foul of the local Enforcers, Ianthe soon learns that war in the shadows is seldom straightforward and that the local, angry law-keepers are the least of her troubles.
-
-
Good little short story
- By WELSBERN on 04-06-21
By: John French
-
Play Nice
- The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment
- By: Jason Schreier
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For video game fans, the name Blizzard Entertainment was once synonymous with perfection. The renowned company behind classics like Diablo and World of Warcraft was known to celebrate the joy of gaming over all else. What was once two UCLA students' simple mission—to make games they wanted to play—launched an empire with thousands of employees, millions of fans, and billions of dollars. But when Blizzard cancelled a buzzy project in 2013, it gave Bobby Kotick, the infamous CEO of corporate parent Activision, the excuse he needed to start cracking down on Blizzard's proud autonomy.
-
-
Just ok
- By TH on 11-17-24
By: Jason Schreier
-
The Six Pack
- On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania
- By: Brad Balukjian
- Narrated by: Brad Balukjian
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2005, Brad Balukjian left his position as a magazine fact-checker to pursue a dream job: partner with his childhood hero, The Iron Sheik (whose real name was Khosrow Vaziri), to write his biography. Things quickly went south, culminating in the Sheik threatening Balukjian’s life. Now seventeen years later, Balukjian returns to the road in search of not only a reunion with the Sheik, but something much bigger: truth in a world built on illusion.
-
-
The story and the history was super good
- By Amazon Customer on 02-27-25
By: Brad Balukjian
-
Dead Acre
- By: Rhett C. Bruno, Jaime Castle
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Crowley met his mortal end in a hail of gunfire. Now, he finds himself in purgatory, serving the White Throne to avoid falling to hell. Not quite undead, though not alive either, the best he can hope for is to work off his servitude and fade away. His not-so-sacred duty as a Hand of God? Use his new abilities to hunt down demonic beings that have infiltrated the mortal realm. This time, the White Throne has sent him to the middle of nowhere: a Western town called Dead Acre with a saloon, a moldy church, and little else worth talking about. There isn’t even a sheriff.
-
-
Incredible Must Read
- By Heather Stark on 11-25-20
By: Rhett C. Bruno, and others
-
Billy the Kid
- The War for Lincoln County
- By: Ryan C. Coleman
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1870s New Mexico, the territory is at a crossroads. The indigenous population is being driven out—and driven down—by the white settlers migrating west after the Civil War. The center of power isn’t the governor but rather the Santa Fe Ring, a group of wealthy politicians, businessman, and landowners who exercise power through organized crime, theft, graft, and murder. Their main source of income is a mercantile store in Lincoln known as the House.
-
-
Excellent performance from the narrator, the story itself was well written
- By Amazon Customer on 11-15-24
By: Ryan C. Coleman
-
Jacked
- The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto
- By: David Kushner
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grand Theft Auto is one of the biggest and most controversial videogame franchises of all time. Since its first release in 1997, GTA has pioneered the use of everything from 3D graphics to the voices of top Hollywood actors and repeatedly transformed the world of gaming. Despite its incredible innovations in the $75 billion game industry, it has also been a lightning rod of debate, spawning accusations of ethnic and sexual discrimination, glamorizing violence, and inciting real-life crimes.
-
-
Kushner Writes Well, Verner Drops the Ball
- By L. Productions on 03-24-13
By: David Kushner
-
Blood and Lies
- Agent of the Throne: Warhammer 40,000, Book 1
- By: John French
- Narrated by: Colleen Prendergast, Steve Conlin, Cliff Chapman, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Ianthe, war is all too familiar. A former soldier in the Astra Militarum, she now serves Inquisitor Covenant as an agent of the Throne. Her first mission sees her investigating a cult called the Children of Eternity. Falling foul of the local Enforcers, Ianthe soon learns that war in the shadows is seldom straightforward and that the local, angry law-keepers are the least of her troubles.
-
-
Good little short story
- By WELSBERN on 04-06-21
By: John French
-
Play Nice
- The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment
- By: Jason Schreier
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For video game fans, the name Blizzard Entertainment was once synonymous with perfection. The renowned company behind classics like Diablo and World of Warcraft was known to celebrate the joy of gaming over all else. What was once two UCLA students' simple mission—to make games they wanted to play—launched an empire with thousands of employees, millions of fans, and billions of dollars. But when Blizzard cancelled a buzzy project in 2013, it gave Bobby Kotick, the infamous CEO of corporate parent Activision, the excuse he needed to start cracking down on Blizzard's proud autonomy.
-
-
Just ok
- By TH on 11-17-24
By: Jason Schreier
-
The Six Pack
- On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania
- By: Brad Balukjian
- Narrated by: Brad Balukjian
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2005, Brad Balukjian left his position as a magazine fact-checker to pursue a dream job: partner with his childhood hero, The Iron Sheik (whose real name was Khosrow Vaziri), to write his biography. Things quickly went south, culminating in the Sheik threatening Balukjian’s life. Now seventeen years later, Balukjian returns to the road in search of not only a reunion with the Sheik, but something much bigger: truth in a world built on illusion.
-
-
The story and the history was super good
- By Amazon Customer on 02-27-25
By: Brad Balukjian
-
The Watchman
- By: Arthur Bradley
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1885, President Grover Cleveland commissioned a special group of agents to investigate paranormal activities plaguing the nation. Unwilling to accept failure, he granted each the authority to operate outside the law. His directive was simple. No rules. No excuses. Just get it done. Remy Kincaid, the son of a pugilist and sharpshooter, is recruited with the promise of discovering those responsible for his father’s abduction. With the help of his cynical steed, Fable, he heads to the town of Wharton, Texas, to investigate the disappearance of several young children.
-
-
I didn't expect to like it but I did. A lot.
- By Melisa on 02-16-21
By: Arthur Bradley
-
Donnie Brasco
- My Undercover Life in the Mafia
- By: Joseph D. Pistone
- Narrated by: Joseph D. Pistone
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Posing as a jewel thief Donnie Brasco, FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone worked undercover for six years to infiltrate the flamboyant and deadly community of Mafia wise guys, captains, and bosses. Now his eyewitness account brings to pulsing life the code of honor, loyalties, treacheries, and dirty dealings of unforgettable characters.
-
-
Straight from the horses mouth...
- By Powrie on 09-19-11
-
Bandit Heaven
- The Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs and the Final Chapter of the Wild West
- By: Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robbers Roost, Brown’s Hole, and Hole-in-the-Wall were three hideouts that collectively were known to outlaws as “Bandit Heaven.” During the 1880s and ‘90s these remote locations in Wyoming and Utah harbored hundreds of train and bank robbers, horse and cattle thieves, the occasional killer, and anyone else with a price on his head.
-
-
Outstanding narrator
- By Virginia on 11-16-24
By: Tom Clavin
-
Trollslayer
- Gotrek and Felix: Warhammer Chronicles, Book 1
- By: William King
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After fleeing the authorities in the Imperial city of Altdorf, Felix Jaeger swears a drunken oath to dour dwarf Gotrek Gurnisson to record his death saga. In the cold light of day, Felix's worst fears are confirmed as he learns that Gotrek is a Trollslayer - a dwarf doomed to seek out a heroic death in battle to atone for an unknown personal disgrace. Their travels throw them into a string of extraordinary adventures as Felix tries to survive his companion's destiny.
-
-
love gotrek and felix
- By Angela N. on 12-15-19
By: William King
-
The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 1
- From Pong to Pokemon and Beyond . . . The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World
- By: Steven L. Kent
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 23 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With all the whiz, bang, pop, and shimmer of a glowing arcade, volume 1 of The Ultimate History of Video Games reveals everything you ever wanted to know and more about the unforgettable games that changed the world, the visionaries who made them, and the fanatics who played them. Starting in arcades then moving to televisions and handheld devices, the video game invasion has entranced kids and the young at heart for nearly fifty years. And gaming historian Steven L. Kent has been there to record the craze from the very beginning.
-
-
Misleading title for an otherwise excellent book
- By CJ on 09-26-23
By: Steven L. Kent
-
God of War
- By: Robert E. Vardeman, Matthew Stover
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brutal warrior, Kratos is a slave to the gods of Olympus. Plagued by the nightmares of his past and yearning for freedom, the Ghost of Sparta would do anything to be free of his debt to the gods. He is on the verge of losing all hope when the gods give him one last task to end his servitude. He must destroy Ares, the god of war. But what chance does a mere mortal have against a god?
-
-
Fantastic story and amazing narration
- By Mark on 03-07-11
By: Robert E. Vardeman, and others
-
Butcher’s Crossing
- By: John Williams
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1870s, Will Andrews, fired up by Emerson to seek "an original relation to nature," drops out of Harvard and heads west. He washes up in Butcher's Crossing, a small Kansas town full of restless men looking for ways to make money and ways to waste it. One of these men regales Will with tales of the immense buffalo herds hidden away in the Colorado Rockies and convinces him to join an expedition to track them down.
-
-
A Holocaust of Hides
- By Darwin8u on 11-13-15
By: John Williams
-
Red Dead Redemption
- History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West
- By: John Wills - editor, Esther Wright - editor
- Narrated by: Andrew Joseph Perez
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While the Western was dying a slow death across the cultural landscape, it was blazing back to life as a video game in the early twenty-first century. Rockstar Games' Red Dead franchise, beginning with Red Dead Revolver in 2004, has grown into one of the most critically acclaimed video game franchises of the twenty-first century. Red Dead Redemption: History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West offers a critical, interdisciplinary look at this cultural phenomenon at the intersection of game studies and American history.
-
-
Complete garbage
- By Amazon Customer on 12-29-23
By: John Wills - editor, and others
-
HALO: The Fall of Reach
- HALO, Book 1
- By: Eric Nylund
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 26th century. Humanity has expanded beyond Earth’s system to hundreds of planets that colonists now call home. But the United Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command is struggling to control this vast empire. After exhausting all strategies to keep seething colonial insurrections from exploding into a full-blown interplanetary civil war, the UNSC has one last hope.
-
-
Phenomenal story - problematic performance
- By wotsisname on 07-02-19
By: Eric Nylund
-
Jurassic Park
- A Novel
- By: Michael Crichton
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them - for a price.
-
-
CHAOS THEORY
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 01-30-16
By: Michael Crichton
-
Long Live Mortal Kombat, Round 1
- The Fatalities and Fandom of the Arcade Era
- By: David L. Craddock, John Tobias - foreword, James Rolfe - foreword
- Narrated by: Andy Ingalls
- Length: 21 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To politicians and parents, Mortal Kombat was a menace to society. To gamers, it was a way of life. From dedicated hustlers who put thousands of miles on their odometers driving coast to coast to challenge the top players in arcades, to fans who devote their free time to collecting action figures, setting world records, and plumbing the depths of its lore, the Mortal Kombat franchise has topped sales charts for thirty years, and its popularity shows no signs of waning. But before Mortal Kombat offended politicians and sold over 12 million units, executives at Midway saw it as filler.
-
-
A lot of filler, and very little substance
- By Fred on 12-09-23
By: David L. Craddock, and others
-
The Storm of Steel
- By: Ernst Jünger
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic war memoir, first published in 1920, is based on the author's extensive diaries describing hard combat experienced on the Western Front during World War I. It has been greatly admired by people as diverse as Bertolt Brecht and Andre Gide, and from every part of the political spectrum. Hypnotic, thrilling, and magnificent, The Storm of Steel is perhaps the most fascinating description of modern warfare ever written.
-
-
Horror and randomness of war
- By 9S on 12-26-14
By: Ernst Jünger
Critic reviews
"A landmark in writing about video games. Never before has a trained historian dived so deeply (and enthusiastically!) into a game's politics and milieu. From puncturing the sacred American cowboy myth to figuring out how violent, really, the West actually was, Professor Olsson effortlessly illuminates one of the greatest games ever made."—Tom Bissell, screenwriter, author of Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter
“Like taking a college class from a brilliant, funny professor—except the professor is also a gamer.”—Daniel Immerwahr, author of How to Hide an Empire
"Millions of people have imagined the United States of 1899 through the lens of the video game, Red Dead Redemption 2. Tore Olsson explores that virtual world with the sympathetic insight of a skilled historian and devoted gamer... Immersive, unflinching, and fast-moving."—Edward Ayers, Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities and President Emeritus, University of Richmond
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Red Dead Redemption
- History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West
- By: John Wills - editor, Esther Wright - editor
- Narrated by: Andrew Joseph Perez
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While the Western was dying a slow death across the cultural landscape, it was blazing back to life as a video game in the early twenty-first century. Rockstar Games' Red Dead franchise, beginning with Red Dead Revolver in 2004, has grown into one of the most critically acclaimed video game franchises of the twenty-first century. Red Dead Redemption: History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West offers a critical, interdisciplinary look at this cultural phenomenon at the intersection of game studies and American history.
-
-
Complete garbage
- By Amazon Customer on 12-29-23
By: John Wills - editor, and others
-
Billy the Kid
- The War for Lincoln County
- By: Ryan C. Coleman
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1870s New Mexico, the territory is at a crossroads. The indigenous population is being driven out—and driven down—by the white settlers migrating west after the Civil War. The center of power isn’t the governor but rather the Santa Fe Ring, a group of wealthy politicians, businessman, and landowners who exercise power through organized crime, theft, graft, and murder. Their main source of income is a mercantile store in Lincoln known as the House.
-
-
Excellent performance from the narrator, the story itself was well written
- By Amazon Customer on 11-15-24
By: Ryan C. Coleman
-
Dead Acre
- By: Rhett C. Bruno, Jaime Castle
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Crowley met his mortal end in a hail of gunfire. Now, he finds himself in purgatory, serving the White Throne to avoid falling to hell. Not quite undead, though not alive either, the best he can hope for is to work off his servitude and fade away. His not-so-sacred duty as a Hand of God? Use his new abilities to hunt down demonic beings that have infiltrated the mortal realm. This time, the White Throne has sent him to the middle of nowhere: a Western town called Dead Acre with a saloon, a moldy church, and little else worth talking about. There isn’t even a sheriff.
-
-
Incredible Must Read
- By Heather Stark on 11-25-20
By: Rhett C. Bruno, and others
-
Deadlands: Ghostwalkers
- By: Jonathan Maberry
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Ghostwalkers, a gun-for-hire, literally haunted by his bloody past, comes to the struggling town of Paradise Falls, where he becomes embroiled in a deadly conflict between the besieged community and a diabolically brilliant alchemist who is building terrible new weapons of mass destruction...and an army of the living dead!
-
-
GOOD GRIEF (those who read the story will get it)
- By Wild Wise Woman on 10-02-15
By: Jonathan Maberry
-
Billy the Kid
- The Endless Ride
- By: Michael Wallis
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, "the Kid", who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of 21, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw.
-
-
Disappointing
- By MJTCPA on 07-30-11
By: Michael Wallis
-
Vampire Huntress Chronicles Boxed Set, Books 1-3
- By: Jessica Wayne
- Narrated by: Roger Clark, Mia Madison
- Length: 27 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hunting vampires is her legacy. Detective Rainey Astor walks a dangerous line between the human and supernatural worlds. As a vampire hunter, she's a formidable opponent, having killed hundreds of their kind. Yet, when her latest foray into the supernatural world goes terribly wrong, she finds herself rescued by the very creature she's vowed to kill.
-
-
Narrators were both NOT good
- By Anonymous Hippopotamus on 05-02-25
By: Jessica Wayne
-
Red Dead Redemption
- History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West
- By: John Wills - editor, Esther Wright - editor
- Narrated by: Andrew Joseph Perez
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While the Western was dying a slow death across the cultural landscape, it was blazing back to life as a video game in the early twenty-first century. Rockstar Games' Red Dead franchise, beginning with Red Dead Revolver in 2004, has grown into one of the most critically acclaimed video game franchises of the twenty-first century. Red Dead Redemption: History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West offers a critical, interdisciplinary look at this cultural phenomenon at the intersection of game studies and American history.
-
-
Complete garbage
- By Amazon Customer on 12-29-23
By: John Wills - editor, and others
-
Billy the Kid
- The War for Lincoln County
- By: Ryan C. Coleman
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1870s New Mexico, the territory is at a crossroads. The indigenous population is being driven out—and driven down—by the white settlers migrating west after the Civil War. The center of power isn’t the governor but rather the Santa Fe Ring, a group of wealthy politicians, businessman, and landowners who exercise power through organized crime, theft, graft, and murder. Their main source of income is a mercantile store in Lincoln known as the House.
-
-
Excellent performance from the narrator, the story itself was well written
- By Amazon Customer on 11-15-24
By: Ryan C. Coleman
-
Dead Acre
- By: Rhett C. Bruno, Jaime Castle
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Crowley met his mortal end in a hail of gunfire. Now, he finds himself in purgatory, serving the White Throne to avoid falling to hell. Not quite undead, though not alive either, the best he can hope for is to work off his servitude and fade away. His not-so-sacred duty as a Hand of God? Use his new abilities to hunt down demonic beings that have infiltrated the mortal realm. This time, the White Throne has sent him to the middle of nowhere: a Western town called Dead Acre with a saloon, a moldy church, and little else worth talking about. There isn’t even a sheriff.
-
-
Incredible Must Read
- By Heather Stark on 11-25-20
By: Rhett C. Bruno, and others
-
Deadlands: Ghostwalkers
- By: Jonathan Maberry
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Ghostwalkers, a gun-for-hire, literally haunted by his bloody past, comes to the struggling town of Paradise Falls, where he becomes embroiled in a deadly conflict between the besieged community and a diabolically brilliant alchemist who is building terrible new weapons of mass destruction...and an army of the living dead!
-
-
GOOD GRIEF (those who read the story will get it)
- By Wild Wise Woman on 10-02-15
By: Jonathan Maberry
-
Billy the Kid
- The Endless Ride
- By: Michael Wallis
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, "the Kid", who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of 21, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw.
-
-
Disappointing
- By MJTCPA on 07-30-11
By: Michael Wallis
-
Vampire Huntress Chronicles Boxed Set, Books 1-3
- By: Jessica Wayne
- Narrated by: Roger Clark, Mia Madison
- Length: 27 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hunting vampires is her legacy. Detective Rainey Astor walks a dangerous line between the human and supernatural worlds. As a vampire hunter, she's a formidable opponent, having killed hundreds of their kind. Yet, when her latest foray into the supernatural world goes terribly wrong, she finds herself rescued by the very creature she's vowed to kill.
-
-
Narrators were both NOT good
- By Anonymous Hippopotamus on 05-02-25
By: Jessica Wayne
-
Doom Guy
- Life in First Person
- By: John Romero
- Narrated by: John Romero
- Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Doom Guy: Life in First Person is the long-awaited autobiography of gaming’s original rock star and the cocreator of DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein—some of the most recognizable and important titles in video game history. Credited with the invention of the first-person shooter, a genre that continues to dominate the market today, he is gaming royalty. Told in remarkable detail, a byproduct of his hyperthymesia, Romero recounts his storied career.
-
-
Intimate stories of gaming history in First Person
- By Emyli on 07-28-23
By: John Romero
-
The Summer of 1876
- Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends in the Season That Defined the American West
- By: Chris Wimmer
- Narrated by: Chris Wimmer, Johnny Heller
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The summer of 1876 was a key time period in the development of the mythology of the Old West. Many individuals who are considered legends by modern listeners were involved in events that began their notoriety or turned out to be the most famous—or infamous—moments of their lives. Those individuals were Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Wild Bill Hickok, and Jesse James. The Summer of 1876 weaves together the timelines of the events that made these men legends.
-
-
Like History? You will thoroughly enjoy this book!
- By JRC on 04-26-24
By: Chris Wimmer
-
Tombstone
- The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell
- By: Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The true story of the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday, and the famous Battle at the OK Corral, by the New York Times best-selling author of Dodge City and Wild Bill. On the afternoon of October 26, 1881, nine men clashed in what would be known as the most famous shootout in American frontier history. Thirty bullets were exchanged in 30 seconds, killing three men and wounding three others. The fight sprang forth from a tense, hot summer.
-
-
Great fun read, western history.
- By Dennis on 06-03-20
By: Tom Clavin
-
The First World War
- A Complete History
- By: Martin Gilbert
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 33 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was to be the war to end all wars, and it began at 11:15 on the morning of June 28, 1914, in an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire called Sarajevo. It would officially end nearly five years later. Unofficially, however, it has never ended: Many of the horrors we live with today are rooted in the First World War. The Great War left millions of civilians and soldiers maimed or dead. It also saw the creation of new technologies of destruction: tanks, planes, and submarines; machine guns and field artillery; poison gas and chemical warfare.
-
-
Unbiased true facts of the first world war
- By troy a myers on 07-27-20
By: Martin Gilbert
-
God of War
- By: J. M. Barlog, Cory Barlog
- Narrated by: Alastair Duncan
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
His vengeance against the gods of Olympus years behind him, Kratos now lives as a man in the realm of Norse gods and monsters. It is in this harsh, unforgiving world that he must fight to survive...and teach his son to do the same. This startling reimagining of God of War deconstructs the core elements that defined the series - satisfying combat, breathtaking scale, and a powerful narrative - and fuses them anew.
-
-
Fantastic Story, Fantastic Performance, but
- By WLRogers on 01-29-19
By: J. M. Barlog, and others
-
Play Nice
- The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment
- By: Jason Schreier
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For video game fans, the name Blizzard Entertainment was once synonymous with perfection. The renowned company behind classics like Diablo and World of Warcraft was known to celebrate the joy of gaming over all else. What was once two UCLA students' simple mission—to make games they wanted to play—launched an empire with thousands of employees, millions of fans, and billions of dollars. But when Blizzard cancelled a buzzy project in 2013, it gave Bobby Kotick, the infamous CEO of corporate parent Activision, the excuse he needed to start cracking down on Blizzard's proud autonomy.
-
-
Just ok
- By TH on 11-17-24
By: Jason Schreier
Now I want to start a new game and travel through history with open eyes .
Fantastic
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
different than expected! but no less amazing!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Compelling comparison
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
When video games inspire you to know the world around you
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Informative, compelling and accessible
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Brilliant and beautifully done
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of the most impactful western history books I've listened too
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fantastic
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent Listen, Compelling and Accessible History
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Amazing for fans of the game and fans of history!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.