Book Review

Learning how to read a history book is one of the skills offered in this course. Doing research in primary sources is essential for good historical analysis, but so is having a good grasp of the historiography on your topic. Historians respond to each other's scholarly work. No historian stands as an island. The exchange of ideas is fundamental to good historical interpretations.

For this book review assignment you may choose any scholarly monograph listed on your prospective bibliography. A scholarly monograph is a book the uses footnotes or endnotes citing both primary and secondary sources. Scholarly monographs are reviewed for publication by experts in the field. Most scholarly monographs are published by university presses or other scholarly publishing houses. Some include bibliographies, but not every scholarly monograph does so. Be careful that you have chosen a scholarly monograph to review for this assignment.

***Post your review as a file attachment to your assigned Blackboard Discussion Group AND to Turnitin.com under the Turnitin.com Assignment button. You should also bring a print copy with you to class on the due date.(REVISED: Turn-in your print copy at the Dept. of History frontdesk, Administration Building 7th floor). Your review should be prepared using either Microsoft Word or Word Perfect (This will ensure that everyone will be able to read your work online).

Each review is limited to 1000 words (about 4 double-spaced typed pages) and must include the following elements:

1) Full bibliographic citation at the top of the first page. There is a slight difference from the regular Bibliography format because you should put first name and then surname (instead of the usual surname and then first named used for bibliographical citations in a bibliography). For example:

Roger Biles. A New Deal for the American People. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 1991. pp, ix, 274. $28.50.

2) Restate (or even better, quote) the author's thesis and any subtheses.

3) Cite the book's scope and focus (what does it cover?).

4) Identify the author. Is the the first (second? third? etc.) book written by this author---on the same topic or has the author written books on other topics?

5) Place the book in the topic's general historiography. What have other authors written about this topic? How is this book similar or different?

6) Include a brief summary of the book. The summary is the least important part of any scholarly review and should not be more than 1/3rd of this review.

7) Judgment. What are the book's strengths and weaknesses. Be sure to cite specific examples.

You may find it useful to look at professional reviews on the H-Net website for examples of good book reviews.