“A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World? 3500 BC-AD 1603” by Simon Schama

Select a book about history relating to the period between approximately 3500 B.C. and A.D.
1600. Be careful not to choose a novel; a novel is a work of fiction. This assignment calls for the reading
of an historical work of non-fiction. Once you have selected your book, please send me, via e-mail, the
book’s title and the author’s name for approval (or simply bring the book with you to class for approval).
The deadline for making your book selection is Sunday, February 18th.
All book reviews must be done on a word processor, be double-spaced (using Times New
Roman, 12 pt. font) and strictly adhere to length requirements – 5 to 7 pages in length (no more, no less).
DO NOT put extra spaces between paragraphs. There is to be a one-inch margin on all sides (meaning
top, bottom, & both sides). Notes should be parenthetical or line notes, as the following example from
Friedreich Nietzsche’s The Genealogy of Morals illustrates:
Nietzsche believed that “the priestly system of valuations” too easily branched off from
the aristocratic and developed into its antithesis. (591) – notice that following the punctuation (period),
there is a space, followed by the page number(s) in brackets. Be careful about overusing quotations – this
is your review – only use a few carefully selected words, phrases, or sentences which best impart the
essence of what the author is trying to say.
Grammar, punctuation and spelling should be correct and follow standard usage. You are
strongly urged to purchase and consult a “Style Guide;” the most widely used seems to be Kate L.
Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations. One should always have a
good dictionary and thesaurus handy as well; most word processing programs have them built-in.
Bibliographical information for your book should be located at the top of page one (just below your
name) and be single-spaced and include the book’s full title (underlined), author’s full name, place of
publication, publisher, and year of publication (note: the bibliographic entry is the only part of the review
where you should use single-spacing; the rest of your paper should be double-spaced). An example of a
standard bibliographic entry appears as follows:
The Presidency of George Washington, by Forest McDonald. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press,
1974.