An academic book review is not a book report. Your review is not just summary of the books contents. It should show your familiarity with the authors argument(s), sources, and major examples. It should also include a reflective statement on the books merits (e.g., is its argument sound? Does it achieve what it set out to do? Where did it succeed, and where did it fail?)

1. An academic book review is not a book report. Your review is not just summary of the books contents. It should show your familiarity with the authors argument(s), sources, and major examples. It should also include a reflective statement on the books merits (e.g., is its argument sound? Does it achieve what it set out to do? Where did it succeed, and where did it fail?)
2. The introduction of every book review should contain discussion of:
a. The authors thesis statement (ideally quoted directly from the text).
b. A very brief description of who the author is, including their formal academic title, where they teach, and what their primary research interests are. (Note: seriously, keep this short.)
c. The full title of the book.
d. A general description of the book that tells the reader what historical period, events, topics, region(s), and people groups the scholarship engages with.
3. The body paragraphs of every book review should contain discussion of:
a. Adequate summary of the chapters you read.
b. Examples of how the author attempts to carry out their argument. For example, we know Thomass book is generally about the intersection of black civil rights, southern health care, New Deal politics, and Jim Crow policy (Note: this description is not a thesis). How does she, specifically, engage with the New Deal to prove her point? Which politicians does she include in her conversation, and why? What health care policies does she focus on, and why? What are her most powerful examples of deluxe Jim Crow? In short, show your reader what historical moments, examples, figures,
Good reviews must include mention of specific details from the text.
he authors sources. You dont have to tell me about each and every source Thomas uses to make her point, but its important to note what type of primary sources (e.g., historical documents/artifacts) she leans on. You can do this in a couple ways. I suggest using the Notes section of the book, which starts on page 299. At the top of that page, you see her list some of the major archival material she uses throughout. Additionally, what follows beyond page 299 is every citation she makes in every chapter of the book. You can see precisely which sources shes using to build her argument. To carry on a fruitful discussion of her source material, you might refer to your notes. Which pages were the most important for your understanding of the book? Which pages were the most or least effective?You can then go to that page, find the footnote for the content youve identified, and then find that footnote in the Notes section in the back of the book.
4. The conclusion of every book review should contain:
a. Your perspective on the book. Here, I want to see you offer your thoughts on the quality and implications of the text. To be clear, this should be more than it wasnt good, I didnt like it, or shes a bad writer. Think back to your reading of the text and how our in-class discussions went. Does she actually do what she promises? Is her argument sensible?Is she convincing in her evidence? Does her argument and evidence have any significant impact on how you understand the past and present? Was she wrong on anything? Offer your interpretation and view of the book.
5. Odds-and-ends
a. Unless youre using or quoting from any outside material, the only citations you need are page numbers from the Thomas book. When citing, you can place the page numbers (no need for author or book title) in parentheses in between the final word of a sentence and ending punctuation.
b. If you do cite outside sources, you would need to cite them using Chicago Style footnotes. A guide is included in your syllabus.
c. I want to emphasize the need for direct quotations from the book. I dont want you to overdo it with paragraph-long quotations from Thomass text, but you simply must include quotations from the book. This helps you supplement your points with evidence from the text. Book reviews lacking in appropriate quotations will suffer significant penalties.

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