OVERVIEW
The Purpose of a Historical Book Review (excerpted from Mark Helsterns The History Student Writers Manual, Prentice Hall, 1998):
The essential task of a historical book review is to answer three questions:
What did the writer try to do?
How well did she or he do it?
Was it worth doing in the first place?
People who read a book review want to know if a particular book is worth reading, for their own purposes, before expending their time reading it. These potential readers/researchers want to know the books subject and its strengths and weaknesses, and they want to obtain this information as easily and quickly as possible. Your goal in writing a book review is to help people decided efficiently whether to read a book.
In the process of writing a book review that reaches this primary goal, you will also:
Learn about the book you are reviewing
Learn about professional standards for book reviews in history
Learn the essential steps of book reviewing that apply to most academic disciplines
Learning to review a historical book properly teaches you to focus quickly on the essential elements of the book, to draw from a book its informational value not just for other readers but for yourself. Writing historical book reviews helps you to become proficient in quickly sorting valuable information from material that is not valuable to you at that time. The ability to make such quick and effective judgments is a fundamental ingredient in academic success.
Finally, reading a historical book for review can provide you with practical models of what you should and should not do as a writer. You have a chance to become more conscious of stylistic and organizational strategies than you would if you were reading only for a books contents. Writing a book review gives you practice in assimilating and condensing ideas in order to express them with clarity in as few words as possible.
FINAL PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
Your final project will consist of four parts, as outlined below. Be sure to check the Course Calendar for the due dates for each part. You will submit each of the items below using the appropriate assignment submission link within the Final Project area of the course. Grading rubrics for each part of the final project can be found within the assignment submission links.
Part I: Final Project Proposal
Write a 1-page proposal for a historically-oriented book you plan to critically review. Provide a synopsis of the book and why you think it would be an important book to review. You should include the following: title, author, place and name of publisher, date, and the number of pages. See the sample below for an example of formatting. Note that the title of the book should be in italics or underlined, but not both.
Ring of Hate: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling: The Fight of the Century
: Arcade Publishing
266 pages
ISBN-10 : 1559707895
ISBN-13 : 978-1559707893
Part II: Final Paper Outline
Develop an outline based on the Formal Outline section in Chapter 6 of the textbook (Methods and Skills, Chapter 6 (p. 89, The Formal Outline).
Part III: Historical Book Review
Write a historical book review of 1250 words (approximately 5 pages) in length, in addition to the title page and a separate bibliography. In the bibliography, include the citation for the book you are reviewing along with any other sources you use to support your points. Your book review should be double spaced.
List on the review title page the data on the book being reviewed: title, author, place and name of publisher, date, and the number of pages. In the sample that follows, note that the title of the book should be in italics or underlined, but not both.
(A Review of Ties of Common Blood
By Geraldine Tidd Scott
Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc.
1992. 442 pages.
Reviewed by: [Your Name Here]
History 350
[Mentors Name Here]
University
[Date, ex: September 28, 2016]) example
Refer to Chapter 8 in the textbook, Reading History, for guidance on what to look for when reading a historical book. Your book review should include a summary of the book along with a discussion of the authors thesis and main points, use of evidence, and presentation.
Required Textbook
Salevouris, M. J., & Furay, C. (2015). The methods and skills of history: A practical guide. (4th ed.). Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
ISBN: 978-1118745441
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