Book reviews

Writing a Good Book Review

Book reviews play an essential role in historical scholarship. They offer context for and critical assessment of new publications, ideally from the perspective of people who have worked on similar problems or used similar sources in their own work. Reviews also allow scholars to keep up on new literature, because there is never enough time to read every book. For those who are new to a field, book reviews offer a quick way to listen in on the conversations that animate current and former scholarship. A good book review does not merely report on such conversations, however. It participates in and advances them. As Karin Wulf has written, The most effective review brings readers those who have read or might read the book, but often those who have not and may not into a broader, informed conversation about the topics the book addresses.

I. The Basic Elements of a Good Book Review

Anyone who reads your review should be able to answer three questions about the book you’ve reviewed: what is author’s argument and what is its position in larger debates on the topic? How did the author structure their argument and what evidence did they use to make their case? And Is the author’s argument strong or weak (in the reviewer’s estimation)?

1. A summary of the authors argument. What was the topic and what was the author trying to do? What was his or her aim in writing the book? How did she or he frame the questions? How did she or he propose to get answers to them? In order to do justice to a book, part of what you must do is to enter into the authors project and describe it for your audience. This does not necessarily mean that you take the authors approach or views as the last word on the subject (see point three). But you must show that you understand what that approach was.
2. A synopsis of the author’s use of evidence. You should summarize the contents and the main findings of the book. What is the books thesis–its main, central claim–and how does the author make an argument for it? What kinds of evidence are used?
3. A critical evaluation of the book. Be flexible in how you think about this! It may be that you find a book either completely persuasive, or completely misguided. But there are many possibilities in between. Perhaps the book offers a partial perspective on a larger question. Or maybe it raises questions more than it provides answers, by showing that the conventional wisdom wont do yet leaving us unsure what to put in its place. You will think of other possibilities. Think carefully about the verdict you want to render. Its very rare that a book merits complete approval or complete dismissal. Above all: avoid bland and vacuous judgments such as this book was interesting or this book was boring. Commentaries such as these suggest that you are not taking yourself or the book seriously.

Your review should do all these things, but how you do them is where good writing enters in. One possibility is to address each point in turn, then move onto the next. This approach gets the job done, but the effect can be formulaic or mechanical.

II. Reading for the Argument

Before you write, think about how you are reading. Dont be a passive reader; be an active reader. Here are some suggestions for things to do and think about as you read. Always take notes as you read, not just after you’re finished.

• Try to get inside the authors argument, that is, inside their way of thinking about a problem and presenting it.
• Figure out the authors aims. Try to figure out what your author is trying to do. Is the author filling gaps in the existing literature? Is the author trying to overturn some dominant interpretation? Is the author merely trouble-shooting on a paradigm that is otherwise sound?
• Pay attention to language. Any author has a language or vocabulary of his or her own. What terms are central to the argument? Is the author using those terms in a special way?
• Pay special attention to the use of evidence. What kinds of evidence is the author using to make their case? Is the evidence new? Is it old evidence that your author is examining in a new way?
• Prefaces, introductions, and conclusions are often good sources of information on this. For instance, was the author trying to support or refute other authors? To correct misconceptions, or to point out something that has been missed? To make a political or moral point?
• Keep an eye out for the authors underlying values. What are their assumptions about human nature? About how society works? Are they fundamentally optimistic or pessimistic? You don’t need to incorporate these insights into your review explicitly; but it can help decipher your author’s argument to have a sense of their worldview.

III. Due Diligence

Like any good piece of expository writing, your book review should have the following qualities:

1. You should refer in detail to the authors arguments. Keep the focus of your writing on your author’s arguments, not on yourself. For example, dont resort to phrases like I think or it seems to me. You are trying to reconstruct the core of the authors argument. Instead, pay attention to the language and the major steps with which the author makes their case.
2. You should document your use of sourcesin this case, the book you are reviewing. Direct quotes should always be in quotation marks, and paraphrases should be referenced as well. Since there is only one work being discussed, you may put page numbers in parentheses at the end of the sentence, and give a full bibliographical citation at the beginning or end of the paper: Author, Title (Place of publication, date of publication). The title may be either italicized or underlined. The same goes for reviews you consulted in writing your own: if you want to quote them directly, you’ll need to document your use of the review you’re quoting. More broadly, it’s OK to repeating a criticism that you picked up some other reviewer — as long as you give credit where credit is due, either in the body of your text (“as so-and-so pointed out in her review of the book for The Journal of Academic Stuff…“) or in a footnote.
3. You should always proofread your writing before turning it in. Always always always proofread a paper and make corrections if necessary before turning it in.