Return of Martin Guerre Narrative
4-6 pages, double spaced, times new roman, size 12, standard margins.
The book review is intended to familiarize students with historical writing. The historical monograph is the basis of the discipline of history. Professional historians are mainly evaluated on their strengths as a writer. Furthermore, historians are often asked to review books in professional journals. The questions below are fundamental in the evaluation of a historical monograph. The review should answer all of these questions. The focus of the review should be the author’s argument and how effectively it is demonstrated throughout the book. Many of these questions can be answered by a thorough reading of the preface and introduction. These are the most important sections of the book.
Who is the author?
What is the topic of the book?
What is the author’s purpose for writing the book?
What is the author’s argument?
Is the author arguing against anyone or any idea in particular?
What source material does the author use?
How is the book organized? How does the organization work with the author’s argument?
All of the above questions should be answered briefly within the introductory paragraph (or perhaps in 2 paragraphs)
Briefly summarize the important points of the book in order to demonstrate how the author advances their argument. To do this, you should briefly summarize each chapter. You may consider grouping chapters together if you intend to show that they follow a similar theme related to the author’s purpose and argument (it is best though to at least refer to each chapter within the review). Remember to SHOW the author making their argument. This means you should make good use of quotation throughout the review. As you proceed in this, relate how the information being presented relates to the author’s argument.
What is the most important chapter of the book? This does not mean “what is the most interesting chapter.” Rather, you must identify the chapter you find most crucial to the author’s overall argument. Furthermore, you should address what source material is used in this chapter.
What does this book add to our knowledge of history?
Describe the writing style of the book. Is the author’s writing style effective?
Who is the book’s intended audience? Who might find the book to be useful?
