PNW History Book Review – Cheap Research Essays

You will write a short (4-5 pages) review of an academic book related to the history of the Pacific Northwest. The book choice must be approved by the instructor. (Or you may use a book on the pre-approved list of books on the Paper 2 Book List page.) The paper should be typed, double-spaced, with reasonable fonts and margins, following all good practices for writing a good history paper.

Parts of a Book Review (Do not label these in your paper)

1. Introduction and your thesis: Your review should have a general argument or statement that serves to unify the entire paper. Since you cannot cover everything about a book in only a few pages, you have to be selective about what aspects of the work your review will focus on. Your thesis statement should be about the book you are reviewing and should be a statement of argument about the book as a work of history. A good thesis would be a one- or two-sentence statement that encapsulates the analysis. (See Part 3 below).

2. Brief Summary and Description: Your paper should summarize the book in a single paragraph. Summarizing the book should be a small part of the book review, not the majority of the review. What is the book “about” in a general sense?

The first job of the summary is to summarize the book as specifically as possible, for example “a narrative history of Tacoma from the 1890’s to the 1970’s” or “a collection of historical photographs of the Pacific Northwest from the late nineteenth century with particular emphasis on the timber industry.” Note that you may be reviewing a book that was not written as a history of the region but may have important historical information nonetheless.

Secondly, describe the main historical “agents” in the book; for example, the key individuals, the important impersonal forces, the government agencies, the most influential ideas, or the major historical trends.

Finally, what is the main argument or thesis of the book, or what conclusion does the author want to get across to the reader? If there does not appear to be a central argument, then what is the overall impressions or general themes that the book gets across?

3. Your Analysis: This is the most important part of the review, and it should take up most of the space in the paper. Focus on how the work, as a work of history, approaches the subject and how well it accomplishes what it sets out to do. Be sure to address the book on its own terms – in terms of its own goals, and how well it meets them – and not just how it may be different from the way that you would have written the book. How well does the book “do” history, and what value does it have for anyone who wants to learn more about the subject? Here is where you address the strengths and weaknesses of the book as a historical work – what subjects does the author cover well, and what may be missing? One approach is to compare the book with other sources, for example class readings – is the book confirming what others have said, or is it breaking new ground? Another approach is to examine the author’s perspective or assumptions. What assumptions does the author make or seem to make about history in general, about the Pacific Northwest in particular, or about the book’s audience? How does the author’s perspective – biases, motives, personal experiences, training, expertise, intellectual approach – influence the book itself?