How to review a book in up to 5,000 words1

First steps

Before beginning to read, consider:

1. Title - What does it suggest?

2. Preface - Provides important information on the author’s purpose in writing the book
and will help you to determine the success of the work.
3. Table of Contents - Tells you how the book is organized and will aid in determining
the author’s main ideas and how they are developed - chronologically, topically, etc.

Read the Text

Record impressions as you read and note effective passages for quoting. Keep in mind

1. From what point of view is the work written?

2. Are concepts clearly defined? What’s the book’s main argument? (If it’s a collection
of articles by different authors, what are their various arguments, and how coherent is their
approach as represented by the volume?) How well are the ideas developed? What areas are
covered/not covered? Why? This helps to establish the book’s authority.
3. How accurate is the information in the book? Check outside sources if necessary.
4. Are there maps, illustrations, tables, and so on? Do they aid understanding?
5. Is the index accurate? What sources did the author use - primary or secondary? How
does he or she make use of them? Make note of important omissions.
6. Finally, what has the book accomplished? Is further work needed? Compare the book
to others by this author and by others. (Use the listing in the bibliography.)

Consult Additional Sources

Try to find further information about the author - his/her reputation, qualifications,
influences, etc. - any information that is relevant to the book and that would help to establish
the author’s authority.

Prepare an Outline

Carefully review your notes and attempt to unify your impressions into a statement that will
describe the purpose or thesis of your review. Then, outline the arguments that support your
thesis. Your arguments should develop the thesis in a logical manner.

Write the Draft

Skim your notes again; then, using the outline as a guide and referring to notes when
necessary, begin writing. Your book review should include the following:

1. Preliminary Information - the complete bibliographic citation for the work ie. title
in full, author, place, publisher, date of publication, edition statement, pages, special features

1
I edited and partly rewrote this on the basis of the following sources: http://library.queensu.ca/research/guide/book-
reviews/how-write and http://www.sandiaprep.org/library/bib/bib.html (note by Gregor Benton)
(maps, colour plates, etc.)

Example:

Rory Maclean, Under the Dragon: Travels in a betrayed land, London: Harper Collins, 1998,

2. Introduction should state the author’s (or editor’s and authors) arguments and your
central thesis about the book under review. Consider, if possible, what others have written
about this subject, and what (if anything) the author(s) under review has/have added to our
knowledge and the debate. You can probably get help in this from the book’s introductory
section, which will usually contain a review of the field, i.e. of existing literature on the
subject.
3. Develop your thesis using arguments drawn from your outline. Describe, evaluate,
and if possible explain why the author(s) wrote as he/she/they did. Use quotations to illustrate
important points.
4. Conclusion. If your thesis has been well argued, the conclusion should follow
naturally. It can include a final assessment or simply restate your thesis. Do not introduce
new material at this point.
5. Bibliography. Make sure you add a bibliography. This should list all the writings
mentioned in your review. (For how to a bibliography, see below.)

Revise the Draft

1. Allow a day to elapse before going over your review, to gain perspective.
2. Carefully read through the text, looking for clarity and coherence.
3. Correct grammar and spelling.
4. Verify quotes for proper foot-noting.
5. Ask a friend or relative to read your review to ensure it is clear and well written.

Here are some other sources on writing book reviews that you may or may not wish to
consult:

Writing an Historical Book Review

http://homepages.csp.edu/saylor/Documents/WRITING_AN_HISTORICA/4826_5328.htm

On Writing Book Reviews

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/review.html

How to Write a Historical Book Review

http://www.princeton.edu/~bsimpson/2008%20Hist%20380/How%20to%20Write%20a
%20Historical%20Book%20Review%20-%20Nick%20Cullather%20book.html

U of Toronto Writing Support – The Book Review or Article Critique

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/book-review

How to Write a Book Review

http://www.library.dal.ca/How/Guides/BookReview/
Part 2:

How to create a bibliography (you will not necessarily have used all the different sorts of
sources listed here):

Items in a bibliography are alphabetically ordered by author; and, if no author, then by title.

WEBSITE:

Author of page, last name first, followed by a comma. Title of page in quotes, followed by a
comma. Title of the entire website, italicised, followed by a period. The full URL address of
the page, beginning with http://, followed by the date you visited the site in parentheses,
followed by a period.

Grimes, Barbara F., ed. “South Africa,” Ethnologue.

http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/countries/Sout.html (4 Feb 1999).

BOOK:

Author’s name, last name first, followed by a comma. Title italicised, followed by a comma.
Place of publication, followed by a colon. Publishers name, followed by a comma. Date of
publication, followed by a period.

Morgan, Terri, Photography Take your Best Shot, Minneapolis: Lerner, 1991.

MAGAZINE OR JOURNAL ARTICLE:

Author’s name, last name first, followed by a comma. Title of article, in quotation marks,
followed by a comma. Title of magazine, italicised, followed by a comma. Volume and
number of magazine, date of issue (month, then year), followed by a comma. Pages, followed
by a period.

Sterling, Jeffrey, “Apartheid in South Africa,” The World & I, vol. 24, no. 3, April 1986, pp.
27-35.

(Not all journals have both a volume and a number: some only have a number; a few only
have a date.)

NEWSPAPER:

Author’s name, last name first, followed by a comma. Title of article, in quotation marks,
followed by a comma. Title of newspaper, italicised, followed by a comma. Date (day, month,
year) followed by a comma. Page, followed by a period.

Adams, George, “Ford’s Plan to Spur Republican Revival,” Christian Science Monitor , 29
November 1974, p. 20.

(If there is no author, leave it out.)

“How to Measure Justice,” The Tennessean (Nashville), 19 August 1979, p. 8.