Goal of a book review: A book review is very different from a book report. The goal of a book review is to 1) display substantial knowledge of the book’s content; 2) to determine where to situate this book in the world of knowledge that is political science; 3) to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses; and 4) to determine who would find this book helpful. Content of a book review A book review should answer at least these four questions: 1) What is the point of the book? Another way of asking this is what is the author’s thesis, and how does s/he make an argument for that thesis? 2) Who (as in other authors) or what (as in theories or general trends in the literature) is the author arguing for and against? That is, where does she place herself in the larger field of political science—what methodology does she use, what assumptions does she make (both explicit and implicit), what implications does she see? 3) How clearly did the author communicate her message? 4) Was the message convincing – why or why not? – and why should we care? Argument of a book review Like all political science papers, book reviews assert a claim – they do more than summarize what the author says. The thesis of your book review will respond to questions 3 and 4 above—could you make sense of and understand the argument of the book as a whole? Did the author convince you of his point, and how significant is this point? In considering your thesis, and in presenting your argument, you will need criteria for judging the book. Here are some suggestions of criteria to think about while reading the book and while formulating your argument: • How important is the subject to the study of politics and government?