You will also need to reference at least one outside peer-review of the book. (Links to peer-reviews can be found in the book listing on the library website)
Make sure that the book’s title and author is used as the title for the book review.
You’ll need to identify the author’s thesis, what is his argument, why did he write the book. For full points you’ll also need to mention where this work stands
in relations to works by other authors on the topic. What do his colleagues have to say on the subject, how is the author’s work similar, how is it different?
(This is usually found in the introduction of the book)
You’ll need to have two body paragraphs where you write about how the author defends their thesis. What historical examples do they use. Again, for full
points, you’ll also need to explain why these examples work. So for example if I was reviewing a book on the aggressiveness of Roman imperialism listing the
Third Punic War where Roman finally destroyed the city of Carthage would get you a satisfactory score. Full points would need something along the lines of
“The destruction of Carthage during the 3rd Punic War demonstrates the aggressiveness of Roman imperial ambitions. At this time Carthage did not have
the means to seriously challenge Rome militarily, and Rome itself was in a different position. It’s expansion into Greece meant the resources it could marshal
were vastly superior to the dark days of the Second Punic War when Hannibal was destroying one army after another in Italy.”
Finally, you will need to make sure your proofread your paper since grammar and organization do count as a component of your grade.
