History 370 – Western Civilization and the World G.W. Whitton

Critical Book Review Guide: Writing a Historical Book Review1

Writing a book review as an assignment in a history course has at least four important objectives (1) effective writing, (2) a substantive knowledge about a particular

historical topic, (3) an understanding of the nature and use of historical research, and (4) an ability to think critically about the work of others. A typical summary

“book report” can at best teach only the first two competencies. A book review goes beyond mere summary to inquire into the overall worth of a book. There are six

steps to preparing a review
of an historical work. With some modification, these steps also apply to writing reviews of other nonfiction works.

Select a Book – (This is not an issue for this assignment since the books have been pre-selected.)

There are many ways to find a book appropriate for this type of task. Before your begin your search, check with your instructor for guidelines or parameters regarding

acceptable book topics. Once you know that information, you can begin your search. You may start, of course, with the Suggested Readings after each chapter in the text

or with the electronic card catalog in your school library. You can check standard bibliographies, and try consulting the footnotes or bibliographies of other works.

It may be more convenient, however, for you to search on-line booksellers or even browse a local bookstore or public library. When you locate a likely book, give it a

“once over.” Glance at the table of contents and the bibliography and read the prefatory material to make sure that the book is appropriate to your assignment. Ask

yourself if the topic seems interesting, for you will probably write a better review if you have some affinity for the subject. Most importantly, contact your

instructor for feedback and approval on the book you’ve selected.

Determine the Purpose of the Book

The best place to discover this is usually in the preface, forward, or introduction. What demand did the author intend to fulfill with the book? Did she write because

there was no satisfactory work available on the subject? Did she feel that she had a new point of view on a well-worn topic? Perhaps she wrote a popular account of a

subject about which previous works had been dry and dull. Determine the audience for which the work was intended. Was the work directed mainly at professional

historians, at college students or the general public? Ascertaining the author’s purpose is important, for, assuming that the purpose is worthwhile, the writer should

be judged by whether she achieved what she set out to accomplish.

Learn the Author’s Qualifications and Viewpoint

Find out the author’s academic background. Is he a journalist, a professor, a professional writer? Has he written other books on related topics? Consult the electronic

card catalog and/or the Directory of American Scholars. This information also may be available via an internet search or through an on-line database to which your

institution may subscribe. Viewpoint, however, is generally more important than credentials, since an author must be judged mainly by the quality of the particular

work you are examining. A Pulitzer Prize-winner may later write an undistinguished book. But many first books, often derived from the author’s doctoral dissertation,

are outstanding. Knowing an author’s point of view, however, may put a reader on guard for certain biases. A Marxist historian will often write from a predictable

perspective, as well as an extreme rightist. For example, after the death of Charles de Gaulle, many of his intimates, most notably Jacques Soustelle, wrote

biographical works. A reviewer could not adequately analyze Jacques Soustelle’s biography of de Gaulle without knowing something about the author’s close relationship

with the general-president. Look for information on point of view in prefatory materials, in the body of the book, and in reference works with entries about the