Book Review

On three of the following days, you will need to write a 1000-word review essay.

• Feb 27 - England (and family): Hanawalt (R-1)
• March 6 - Italy (and religion): Madden and Kempers (course packet) (R-2)
• March 13 - Margins: Nirenberg (R-3)
• March 20 - Expansion: Bartlett (R-4)
• April 3 - Focused studies: Reyerson (course packet) and Karras (course packet) (R-5)
• April 10 - Community: Reynolds (R-6)
• April 24 - Catastrophe: Olea and Christakos (course packet). Jordan (all). (R-7) Write on Jordan.

You will be wise not to wait for the last three weeks to write your review essays.

These essays need to address a number of points. What are the major arguments made by the author? Describe the content. What is the relationship between the content and the arguments? What methods does the author employ? On what sources does the author rely? How does the author use the sources? Is the author picking any particular historical fights, or writing against any other interpretation?

Go to the library and find two published reviews of the whole work. Published reviews are a great way to help you figure out what to read (essential for your final paper). Photocopy two of them, and attach them to your review.

As practice: Bring one book review of Nicholas' work to class next week. You may not be able to find one for Urban History, but look for other works on medieval cities by David Nicholas.