college history book review example

Writing a book review is one of the fundamental skills that every historian must learn. An undergraduate student's book review should accomplish two main goals: Lay out an author's argument, and; Most importantly, critique the historical argument. It is important to remember that a book review is not a book report.

This is the equivalent to a thesis statement. Do NOT spend more than one-third or so of the paper summarizing the book. The summary should consist of a discussion and highlights of the major arguments, features, trends, concepts, themes, ideas, and characteristics of the book. While you may use direct quotes from the book (make sure you always ...

Writing a Book Review for History. Your professor may ask you to write a book review, probably of a scholarly historical monograph. Here are some questions you might ask of the book. Remember that a good review is critical, but critical does not necessarily mean negative. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, nor is it a suggested outline.

You can see examples of reviews in virtually any historical journal, and these may help you to write your own review. Reviews are a vital part of academic life, as you will see in the journals. Most professors regularly read and write reviews to find interesting books, stay informed of new work, and ensure that their voices continue to be heard ...

An academic book review provides the main ideas, and since published book reviews typically have a limited word count, the summary should remain brief. Analysis and Significance. Compare the book and its argument with the other literature on the topic. Discuss its contribution to past and current research and literature.

A critical book review is a long-form essay that is both descriptive and analytical in its contents. It is not a mere summary of the book (e.g., book report). Description. The description in a critical book review usually includes the following:

A Sample Book Review. Let us assume that the text assigned for your book review is Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II (New York: BasicBooks, 1997). This best-selling work of narrative history describes in graphic detail the imperial Japanese army's 1937 attack and occupation of the Chinese city of Nanking, which, Chang claims (in accordance with most ...

Below the title and citation, write the body of the book review in essay form without subtitles. As you write your book review, remember that your goal is to analyze the text by discussing the strengths and weaknesses—as opposed to summarizing the content. You should also note that it's best to be as balanced as possible in your analysis.

Identify the book. There are several components to this process. First, you specify the argument or thesis of the book. There may be more than one thesis to a book; often there are one or two main theses supported by minor arguments. You do not tell what the book is about (e.e. this book is about Elizabethan government) but rather what the ...

The following is not a definitive list but merely suggestive of books you might like to review. If you have other ideas please discuss them with your seminar tutor: P. Blickle, The Communal Reformation (1992) Th. A.Brady Jr, The Politics of the Reformation in Germany (1997) O. Brunner, Land and Lordship (1995)

4) In the process of point 3 above, use brief paraphrases or citations from the book. Block quotes (longer than three lines) are not necessary - They take up too much space in a short review. 5) Compare the book to works by others. Use other reviews to help you find things (and article indexes like "Historical Abstracts" to find reviews).

Writing a Historical Book ReviewWriting a historical book review can be different from a standard review, since it must be read and critiqued on the topic. ith understanding and research. Unlike a summary, a historical book review need. The following links will assist you in the writing a book review:

The trick is to provide the necessary summary in as short a space as possible. You will repeat the book author's ideas, not your own, so this section should only be a small part of your review. The second task is to describe the work itself. That is, rather than telling the story of the Erie Canal, you are now telling a story about how Carol ...

Moreover, the student refers to an argument about feminist history in general that places the book in a specific genre and that reaches out to a general audience. The example of analyzing wages illustrates an argument, the analysis engages significant intellectual debates, and the reasons for the overall positive review are plainly visible ...

The task of the book reviewer is to "tease out" the book's themes, explain them in the review, and apply a well-argued judgment on the appropriateness of the book's argument(s) to the existing scholarship in the field. For example, you are reviewing a book on the history of the development of public libraries in nineteenth century America.

All reviews begin with bibliographic information: the author's name, the book's full title, place of publication, publisher, edition, date, pagination, and cost, if known. In no more than two paragraphs, introduce the book. Give your initial appraisal of the work, including your key observation on the text.

Reviews in American History. This reviewing journal, published since 1973, is available online at JSTOR and Project MUSE. Reviews are essay length and often treat multiple works on the same topic or provide retrospectives of earlier, landmark works. Book Review Digest Retrospective, 1905-1982.

Blog - Posted on Thursday, Nov 11 The Only Book Review Templates You'll Ever Need Whether you're trying to become a book reviewer, writing a book report for school, or analyzing a book, it's nice to follow a book review template to make sure that your thoughts are clearly presented.. A quality template provides guidance to keep your mind sharp and your thoughts organized so that you can ...

It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking. Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry's Freefall, a crime novel: In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it's a more subtle process, and that's OK too.

Writing a Book Review. Your professor may ask you to write a book review, probably of a scholarly historical monograph. Here are some questions you might ask of the book. Remember that a good review is critical, but critical does not necessarily mean negative. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, nor is it a suggested outline.

Step 1: Planning Your Book Review - The Art of Getting Started. You've decided to take the plunge and share your thoughts on a book that has captivated (or perhaps disappointed) you. Before you start book reviewing, let's take a step back and plan your approach.

The first step is to plan and create an outline that includes all the points that you will have to cover in the review. Don't forget to include all the information about the characters, plot information, and some other parts of the chosen book. The three parts of a book review are: 1. Provide a Summary.

Sample History Papers. These are examples of well written, properly cited history papers. Sample Paper with Outline. Judge and Langdon Book Review/Research Paper - Example 1. Judge and Langdon Book Review/Research Paper - Example 2.