BOOK REVIEW ASSIGNMENT

For this assignment, you are to select a book relating to East Asian history since 1600, read it, and write a 6-8 page critique about it. The geographical limits for the book are broad: the book may cover East Asia as a region or a particular country (Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan are acceptable in addition to China, Japan, and Korea) but the book must either have a DS call number in the Library catalog or have been approved by your TA. You may use an E-book so long as the book has been published in paper, and if you do you must provide the paper publication information. It should be published in English language.

The book you choose should not be:

• Composed of a collection of essays, especially by different authors, since reviewing them is extremely difficult;
• A novel (that is, fiction);
• An autobiography or memoir;
• A journalistic account without a bibliography or citations; or
• A textbook.

The critique itself should be well organized and fluently written, and should address the following questions, though you need not address them in this order:

1) What was the author's purpose in writing the book?

2) What kinds of sources were employed and how might these have shaped the book? (For example, the author might have drawn exclusively from English language sources.)

3) What is the book about? (This may take the form of a summary/critique of arguments used by the author, but the critique should be more than just a summary.)

4) What are the author's conclusions and were they adequately supported?

At the beginning of your review, you should provide information for your book using the following format:

Thomas T. Allsen, Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001).

One last word of advice. Pick your book soon and try to pick one that you will enjoy reading.