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Book-Review-Writing

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Hijab Fatima
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19 views

Book-Review-Writing

Uploaded by

Hijab Fatima
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Writing Book Reviews in International Relations/Middle East Studies

Like all International Relations papers, all book reviews assert a claim – they do more than
summarize what the author says. Here are ways to organize and write your book review.
Goal of a book review:
A book review is very different from a book report.
The goal of a book review is to
1) Display substantial themes of the book’s content;
2) Determine where this book situates in the world of knowledge about International Relations
3) Evaluate its strengths and weaknesses of the book.
4) Determine who would find this book helpful and how they would find it favorable; students,
statesmen, policy makers or scholars.
Content of a book review
A book review should answer at least these four questions:
1) What is the main theme of the book? Another way of asking this is what is the author’s thesis,
and how does s/he make an argument for that thesis?
2) Who (as in other authors) or what (as in theories or general trends in the literature) is the author
arguing for and against? That is, where does the author place this book in the larger field of political
science?
3) What methodology does the author use, what assumptions does he make (both explicit and
implicit), what implications does he see?
3) How clearly did the author communicate its message?
4) Was the message convincing – why or why not?
Argument of a book review
Here are some suggestions of criteria to think about while reading the book and while formulating
your argument:
1) How important is the subject to the study of International Relations or Middle East Studies?

2) If the author does a great?

3) How helpful is his work?

4) If the author’s work is awesome but incomprehensible?

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5) How complete and thorough is the author’s coverage of the subject?

6) How convinced are you that the author provided all the evidence you needed to know what
you need to know about his or her argument?
Methodology of a Book review
1) Does he or she use only quantitative methods? Only qualitative methods?

2) Could their analysis be improved by mixing methods, or by using other sources?

3) What are the strengths and limitations of the author’s methodology?

4) What is the quality of the writing? Is it clear, precise, and interesting?

5) Does author use enough data, and all the tables and graphs that make sense?

6) Writing is approachable and clear, even if the author is discussing complex ideas or
institutions?

7) How carefully is the author’s analysis conducted? What do we mean by analysis?

The difference between describing what happened, and determining the significance or importance
of what happened is what we mean by analysis.
Here’s an example of analysis v. description.
Description: When I board a plane headed to Seattle in January, I see mostly waterproof, high-
tech jackets rather than wool coats.
Analysis: From this, and the fact that I’ve lived here long enough to invest in several waterproof
jackets (and shoes!), I intuit/analyze that most people who live in the northwest dress in layers and
often have waterproof jackets. There are always a few people with wool coats, however, and I
always assume that they do not currently live in Seattle. Thus, when I enter the plane, I make
educated/analytic guesses about who the people returning home to Seattle are, and who the visitors
or people traveling through Seattle are.
8) How does this book compare with others on the subject? You should probably at least skim
a few of the other texts that the author uses or critiques: you don’t need to read the whole
thing (although bonus points if you do!), but you should have a sense of whether the author
you are reading does justice to the author’s he uses and/or critiques.

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Contributions of the Book review
What contribution does this book make to the field of International Relations or Middle East
Studies?
1) A contribution: everyone in the field of International Relations or Middle East Studies
should read this book?
2) A decent contribution: this will be very helpful to some, but others just won’t care.
3) No contribution at all: is this book about International Relations or Middle East Studies?
How did this book get printed? You must say very clearly WHY for all three possible
answers.
Who will enjoy or benefit from this book?
1) Scholars who do XXXX for a living?
2) Bureaucrats?
3) Students in an intro level class?
4) People who want a general overview of the field of XXXX? ¾
5) Policy-makers?
6) Social movement leaders?
7) Who else?

Organization of a book review

Introduction. In this paragraph you should briefly introduce the work under discussion, and state your
thesis. •

Summary. Following your introduction you should concisely restate the central claim(s) of the author. In
this section be particularly sure to remain faithful to the ideas of the author as he or she states them. At
the same time, aim for the essence of the book: What is the author’s main point? What are the significant
sub points? Make sure that your summary is short and to the point.

Body of the paper. The largest portion of your review should be devoted to elaborating and expanding
on your thesis. In this section you will move step by step through the criteria you have selected above to
assess the book; for each criterion you will show how the author’s effort holds up. •

Conclusion. Wrap up your paper with a statement about the significance of the book; this statement may
concern the extent of its contribution to the discipline of political science or explain how it changed your
understanding of a certain phenomena

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