On being required to write my first critical book review for an upper level history course I was filled with questions as were many of my peers. I was aware that the discourse is different between disciplines and that each discipline has its own unique requirements. I also suspected that there was a difference in the objectives between English and History critical book reviews. My suspicions were confirmed as soon as I read some critical history book reviews. The objectives in book reviews between the disciplines are different animals. The most difficult part of any assignment is understanding what needs to be done, and how. Like many of my peers, I was a third-year student in a fourth-year class expected to write at the fourth-year level. The transition to upper level writing across the disciplines can be traumatic for the unprepared. Many of us had never written a critical book review for history, and not all of us were history majors.

A number of students dropped out of the course after writing their first critical book review in history simply because they did not know what was required and did not conduct the research to find out. The critical book review in history is unique to the discipline and a skill that is expected to be mastered by history students after their first year. Understanding what a critical book review in history is supposed to consist of is the first step in writing one. read this very imporant book history.