Book Review Guidelines. NOTE: Review must be 400-500 words maximum.

 

  1. Start the review with information about the text, and follow exactly this example, justified left:

 

Hobbins, Daniel
The Trial of Joan of Arc
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
251 pp., $24.95, ISBN 0-671-01894-X
Publication date: November 2005

 

  1. Give the credentials of the author, followed by a brief description of the book.

 

Example:

 

Daniel Hobbins, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Texas, Arlington, is the first in decades to write an updated account of the trial of Joan of Arc.

 

  1. Describe the contents of the text. This is the main part of the review. You should break apart the book chapter by chapter (include introduction and conclusion), summarizing each section, evaluating each section and its contribution to learning. In this area you should also analyze any of the strengths or weaknesses of the text. Follow the example in the handout that I gave in class.

 

The review should not be an essay on the topic that the book addresses, or a review of your own personal knowledge of the subject. Seventy-five percent (75%) of your review should be written in a descriptive manner, solely about the book.

 

  1. Compare the book with a similar work. This will require additional research, but not necessarily reading another entire book.

 

  1. Mention what audience the book would be suitable for. If it is a suitable text for undergraduates, graduate students, scholars, the general reading public, say so.

 

Example:

 

This suggested text is suitable for graduate students, scholars, and anyone with an interest in Joan of Arc.

 

  1. Submit two copies. One double-spaced, for me to review and grade, and another for the class to review.

 

I have written numerous book reviews and if you would like to see another example, do not hesitate to ask me.