CSCS Honors World History Book Review/ Article Critique Guidelines
“Indifference to history isn’t just ignorant, it’s rude. It’s a form of ingratitude.”
– David McCullough
Reading is absolutely essential in order for you to be successful in college and throughout your
future. It is also necessary for you to be a well-informed person. History is made up of
countless fascinating stories that not only inform us of the past but should also help to instruct
our actions today. I believe it is important to your experience of history for you to do some indepth reading and writing in history.
This is a book review assignment, not a book report. Yes, you can establish the content of the
book in your review, but do not simply retell the story. Instead, use that content to analyze the
author’s style, purpose, and historian’s abilities. The key word is analyze. This will take some
critical thinking on your part. Your criticism can be both positive and negative. However, make
sure to back up, support, and substantiate your evaluation of the work.
For the summer history reading assignment, 10th grade Honors World History students need to
read The Reformation: How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World by Stephen J. Nichols.
This book may be purchased online at amazon.com or most other online book sales. The book is
also readily available online in used condition at a reduced price and is available as a Kindle/ebook.
Based upon the required reading, class admission requires:

An original 1000 word academic book review of The Reformation: How a Monk and a
Mallet Changed the World due the first day of school in August 2015.
***I recommend you follow this format in writing your book/article reviews.
Original Title
Try to make the title interesting so the reader will want to read your review.
EXAMPLE: Fighting the Good Fight, A Critical Review of John Shy's A People Numerous and
Armed
Full Bibliographical Citation
History book/article reviews almost always start with a full citation, separated from your title by
two lines of space and leaving two lines of space before you begin the body of your essay. Use
either MLA or the Chicago-style citation system to format your citation.
EXAMPLE: John Shy. A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for
American Independence. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press, 1990.
Introduction
Include one or more general statements that give a quick indication of the work's contents
in historical context and your reaction to it.
Body/Supporting Paragraphs
Part 1 - In your summary paragraph(s), explain the purpose of the work and discuss the
author's thesis (main underlying idea). Include all the significant themes of the work,
including the points the author emphasizes. This should be a brief summary of the content of
the book. Give the reader a good idea of what the book is about and what the author believes
about the subject—demonstrate that YOU have read and understood the book!
Part 2 - Critically analyze the book as a resource for understanding history--does the book
have any value to us? Should it be used to understand the subject? In this section, you
should discuss things like the author’s objectivity or bias, assumptions made by author, the
author’s approach to the subject. Discuss the author's background-- Who is the author and
what are his / her qualifications for writing the book? Discuss the methods or types of
research used by the author to prove the main thesis--what types of sources did the author use
in documenting his/her historical interpretation—which primary and/or secondary materials
did the author particularly rely upon? In other words, explain if the author is successful in
supporting the thesis and themes and describe if the book is informative, reliable, and helpful
for someone who desires to begin an in-depth study of the topic.
Part 3 - Present your critical evaluation, discussing both positive and negative features as
appropriate. This is the area where you make your own subjective comments about the book.
You should definitely include what you specifically liked or did not like about the book.
Support all your judgments with evidence from the work, paraphrasing and using selected
short quotations from the work that are representative of the theme, tone, and style. Is the
thesis of the book well supported? Is the work thorough? fair? clear? convincing?
significant? How does the work relate to your general understanding of the subject? Is
author's use of evidence appropriate and on target? How broad are the sources used?
Another thing you might include in this part of the review is what you learned from the book
that was important. Perhaps point out areas in which you disagreed with the author, or things
that the author should have added to make the book more complete.
Conclusion/Ending Paragraph
Give an overall evaluation as the conclusion of what you have said so far. In a review, make a
recommendation about the type of reader likely to enjoy or benefit from the work.
Format
The review should be typed, double-spaced on one side of white standard (8 ½-by-11-inch)
paper, 12 font Times New Roman, with one-inch margins. Include heading on page one with
your name, course name, and date. Number all pages except the first page. Proofread your final
copy carefully and make corrections.
**Adapted from the College of William and Mary History Writing Resource Center