An essential feature of these book reviews is your critical evaluation of the book in a
succinct and concise essay. The point of a scholarly book review is not to merely summarize the
content of the book, but instead, to situate the historical merit of the book and to evaluate
critically the author’s purpose, thesis, contentions, and methods of analysis. Therefore, the bulk
of the essay body will be an evaluation of how convincing the author’s presentation of their
thesis was and a commentary of your understanding of how the book influences your conception
of historical events during the Reformation. To put it another way, the review explains the
historical context of the book, analyzes the text for validity and summarizes its content for
reference.
a narrative history by one of the preeminent Reformation historians of two of the
most influential reformers, Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli. You will want to consider if the
two reformers represented by Gregory deserve to be the focal points of the Reformation. If you
feel they are not, then you will have to make the case for why that is in an apparent and direct
form of analysis. If you feel they are, then provide plenty of examples when you emphasize this
in your analysis.
Other features you should want to include in a strong review are:
A discussion of each author’s main contentions.
An assessment of the strong points or shortcomings of the book, though you want to
avoid being overtly negative about a book.
How does this book change the way one should think about the subject (or perhaps about
pre-concieved notions about the Reformation)?
Were you persuaded by the arguments? If so, what were its strongest essays, and, if not,
where are its weaknesses?
What sources and references are made to other authors? If applicable, is there an
appropriate amount of citations, footnotes, and/or sources?
Finally, you should make references to specific portions of the book to illustrate your evaluation.
The challenge will be to do as much of this as possible and yet to not let it interfere with the
restricted length of the essay. In other words, find creative ways to give examples from the book
in small quantities. Obviously, quotations must be kept to a minimum and should rarely exceed 1
sentence.
INSTRUCTIONS:
The analysis must be double-spaced, 12-point, and in a clear, legible font. If I cannot
read it, or the font is distracting, then your grade will suffer accordingly.
The margins must be set at 1 inch.
The analysis must be free of grammatical and mechanical errors.
While the use of the first person “I” is permitted in a review, it must not be used
excessively.
The top of the first page of the analysis must include the bibliographical reference for the
book.
Below the final line of text on the left-hand margin, you must include your name and the
course title.
Page numbers must be included.
Citations from the text should always be done in Turabian format, though in reviews
Turabian parenthetical citations are acceptable. Outside sources used in a review should
be cited in the more conventional Turabian footnote or endnote.
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