Historical Book Review – Liberated Threads: Black Women, Style, and the Global Politics of Soul by Tanisha C. Ford
Writing a book review is one of the fundamental skills that every historian must learn. Your book review should accomplish two main goals:
1. Lay out Dr. Ford’s argument, and
2. Most importantly, critique the historical argument.
It is important to remember that a book review is not a book report. You need to do more than simply lay out the contents or plot-line of a book. You may briefly summarize the historical narrative or content, but you must focus your review on the historical argument being made and how effectively the author has supported this argument with historical evidence. If you can, you may also fit that argument into the wider historiography about the subject.
The ‘How to … ‘ of Historical Book Reviews
Writing a book review may seem very difficult, but in fact there are some simple rules you can follow to make the process much easier.
Use the following Steps to create an outline
Step 1.
Before you read, find out about the author’s prior work
What academic discipline was the author trained in? What other books, articles, or conference papers has s/he written? How does this book relate to or follow from the previous work of the author? Has the author or this book won any awards? This information helps you understand the author’s argument and critique the book.
Step 2.
As you read, write notes for each of the following topics.
Write a few sentences about the author’s approach or genre of history.
Is the focus on gender? Class? Race? Politics? Culture? Labor? Law? Something else? A combination? If you can identify the type of history the historian has written, it will be easier to determine the historical argument the author is making.
Step 3.
Summarize the author’s subject and argument.
In a few sentences, describe the time period, major events, geographical scope and group or groups of people who are being investigated in the book. Why has the author chosen the starting and ending dates of the book’s narrative? Next, discover the major thesis or theses of the book, the argument(s) that the author makes and attempts to support with evidence. These are usually, but not always, presented in a book’s introduction. It might help to look for the major question that the author is attempting to answer and then try to write his or her answer to that question in a sentence or two. Sometimes there is a broad argument supported by a series of supporting arguments. It is not always easy to discern the main argument, but this is the most important part of your book review.
Step 4.
What is the structure of the book?
Are the chapters organized chronologically, thematically, by group of historical actors, from general to specific, or in some other way? How does the structure of the work enhance or detract from the argument?
Step 5.
Look closely at the kinds of evidence the author has used to prove the argument.
Is the argument based on data, narrative, or both? Are narrative anecdotes the basis of the argument or do they supplement other evidence? Are there other kinds of evidence that the author should have included? Is the evidence convincing? If so, find a particularly supportive example and explain how it supports the author’s thesis. If not, give an example and explain what part of the argument is not supported by evidence. You may find that some evidence works, while some does not. Explain both sides, give examples, and let your readers know what you think, overall.
Step 6.
Closely related to the kinds of evidence are the kinds of sources the author uses.
What different kinds of primary sources are used? What type of source is most important in the argument? Do these sources allow the author to adequately explore the subject? Are there important issues that the author cannot address based on these sources?
How about the secondary sources? Are there one or more secondary books that the author seems to lean heavily on in support of the argument? Are there works that the author disagrees with in the text? This will tell the reader how the work fits into the historiography of the subject and whether it is presenting a major new interpretation.
Step 7.
Is the argument convincing as a whole?
Is there a particular place where it breaks down? Why? Is there a particular element that works best? Why? Would you recommend this book to others, and if so, for whom is it appropriate? General readers? Undergraduates? Graduates and specialists in this historical subject? Why? Would you put any qualifications on that recommendation?
Now it is time to write the paper.
After having written up your analyses of each of these topics, you are ready to compose your review.
Everything on the next page must be included in the Book Review. The following is the grading rubric.
Introduction – do not label the paragraphs. You must cite your sources. Write your review in essay format, not like you are just answering questions
· Introduce the author and provide background information about the author and a brief overview of the monograph.
· Introduction must include a brief statement placing the work under review in its appropriate historical context
· Provide a restatement of author’s thesis – cite the page where you find the thesis statement.
· Relevance to African American history
Strengths/Weaknesses – do not label the paragraphs
· Student must identify and use examples from the book to support or illustrate examples of specific strengths and weaknesses of the work (must discuss in detail a minimum of two strength and two weaknesses and footnote your sources in proper Chicago style)
Historical Reception – do not label the paragraphs
Students must use the TSU Library Learning Center online database for this portion of the review. You will click on Databases and then click on J, then click JSTOR, then type in Liberated Threads in the search window and you will see reviews for the book.
· Student must identify and use at least two professional historical reviews, which appear in peer reviewed academic journals and newspapers to describe the reception of the work by professional historians and the general public. You must footnote the information that you pull from the book reviews.
· Why does the reviewer say the work was significant?
· According to the professional historian, did the author support his/her arguments?
· What did professional historians identify as the strengths and weaknesses of the work?
Conclusion – do not label the paragraph
· Student must provide their overall evaluation of the text. State your recommendations for readership
· What do you see as the most important aspects of the work
· Did the text help you to understand this historical topic any better?
· What is your opinion about the text?
Format Requirements:
Your paper must be typed in Times New Roman font 12pt only. The style for footnoting is Chicago style only. The book review must be a minimum of three-pages. This does not include the bibliography page. This is an upper-level history class and all students have been exposed to and used Chicago style in your history courses, and it is the required format for the discipline (there is no exception). You will be provided a template and a note and bibliography guide, and the expectation is that you will follow the guide and email me or come to office hours with questions. Your papers must have clearly defined paragraphs and edited before submission. This is an academic endeavor and the only sources you are allowed to use are the assigned book, internet source for information on the author (Wikipedia is not a source) and the professional historical reviews you will look up on JSTOR. Please note that I will know if you have not read the book (I have read it – I know the argument), simply reading book reviews is not enough, I will know if that is all you did and your grade will reflect your failure to read the book (YOU MUST READ THE BOOK, so I hope you followed the reading guide I set in the syllabus and posted on Blackboard)
Ford, Tanisha C. Liberated Threads: Black Women, Style, and the Global Politics of Soul. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015.
