Three times during the term, each student will write an in-depth book review, covering the book assigned for that week as well as one additional book. On those weeks when you write a review, present your work, 10-15 minutes, and then ask questions for class discussion. The actual written review should be 1,000 - 1,500 words (3-4 double spaced pages), and should be handed in the week following the presentation (so you can incorporate comments from the discussion).
The book reviews should each focus on one of the following themes: historiography, sources, argument. Each student, then, should write one review on each of these themes during the term (though in any order, and applied to whichever books the student chooses). We will discuss these more early in the term.
The following examples of student work are courtesy of the students and used with permission.
| students | papers |
|---|---|
| Harold Fox | Review of Hoddeson & Riordan's Crystal Fire: The Birth of the Information Age (PDF) |
| Hope Ginsburg | Modernist Visions: Reviews of Hughes' American Genesis and Wohl's A Passion for Wings (PDF) |
| Hope Ginsburg | Computing: Review of Black's IBM and the Holocaust (PDF) |
| Lisa Messeri | Review of Kern's The Culture of Time and Space (PDF) |
| Lisa Messeri | Review of Fritzsche's A Nation of Fliers (PDF) |
| Lisa Messeri | Review of Waldrop's The Dream Machine (PDF) |