book review history 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.

How to Write a Critical Book Review. Your review should have two goals: first, to inform the reader about the content of the book, and second, to provide an evaluation that gives your judgment of the book's quality. Your introduction should include an overview of the book that both incorporates an encapsulated summary and a sense of your ...

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.

Emily W. Thompson reviews Michael Doane's The Crossing on Reedsy Discovery: In Doane's debut novel, a young man embarks on a journey of self-discovery with surprising results. An unnamed protagonist (The Narrator) is dealing with heartbreak. His love, determined to see the world, sets out for Portland, Oregon.

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 ...

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:

Book Reviews. Writing a book review, a comparative book review, or an historiographical essay (basically, a review of several secondary sources on a single topic) is a good way to practice one of the key features of historical analysis—assessing history scholarship (aka "secondary sources").

Your review should be typed or printed, double-spaced, stapled, and no more than 5 pages long. Pages should be numbered. If you quote passages from the book, give the page reference in parentheses at the end of the sentence, before the final period (no need to repeat the author's name or the book's title). Example: Smith claims that Russia ...

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).

For our purposes, an ideal book review should: start with full bibliographic details of the book discussed in the heading; summarise the structure, method and main points of the work, which may include some direct quotes (identified by inverted commas and the relevant page no following in round brackets); discuss how the author's arguments fit ...

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 ...

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 ...

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.

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.

History: Reviews of New Books "Approximately thirty to forty book reviews per issue cover all geographic areas and time periods, from ancient times to the present. The reviews are concise, authoritative, and timely. They outline and evaluate the author's arguments, describe the sources used in the research, and place the book in the context of other scholarship."

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.

The first step in a review is to describe the work and its topic. For example, if you were to review a biography of Charles Lindbergh, it would be appropriate to give your reader some idea of who Charles Lindbergh was, and why someone might want to read a book about him, before you gallop off to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the book ...

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.

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 ...

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 ...

Book review examples 1. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini "A Thousand Splendid Suns," by Khaled Hosseini, is a profoundly moving story set against the backdrop of Afghan history. This novel tells the tale of two women, Mariam and Laila, whose lives become entwined in a harrowing journey of friendship, suffering, and redemption. ...

Eudora Welty. On E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web". Eudora Welty's review of this timeless tale is a sheer delight, starting from its headline ("Life in the Barn Was Very Good") and its ...

Yes. All reviews in the AHR are published in English, but we review works that are produced in languages other than English. The AHA brings together historians from all specializations and all work contexts, embracing the breadth and variety of activity in history today. Conversations Among Scholars Reviews of historical scholarship are among ...

Historical amnesia, unfortunately, conditions much of our present consciousness. Dominant social institutions—media, schooling, and the political system—promote the deliberate habit of forgetting.

This is not a review of two books by Sinclair McKay; these are the same book but with different titles. ... Review of The Hidden History of Code-Breaking and 50 Codes That Changed the World, both by Sinclair McKay The Secret World of Cyphers, Uncrackable Codes, and Elusive Encryptions. Chris Christensen View further author information.