Hi, my assignment is a book review for a historical studies course. I am an inte

Hi, my assignment is a book review for a historical studies course. I am an international art student with ADHD, so the expectation is relatively low. It shouldn’t be written TOO well. I know for a fact that I can’t read the whole book and produce a 5 pages length essay by Monday, so I am asking for an insurance. But I do need the main ideas to incorporate as if I did read the book.
For this assignment, you write a critical review of Laurence Ralph’s The Torture Letters (2020).
Step one of this assignment is to read the book. After you have carefully read the book, write a critical review (step two) that
1) is 1,500 words in length
2) identifies the author’s main ideas and why they are interesting (or not) to you
3) describes the content of the book (paraphrasing and summarizing where necessary)
4) evaluates the book — comments critically on any aspect, including the soundness of the author’s ideas and approach, the accessibility of the prose, and/or the book’s general appeal to readers.
Do not read or consult any other review (published or otherwise) before you submit your completed review for this assignment.
(This is a professional expectation and good advice more generally.)
For some excellent advice about writing reviews, you might want to watch these short videos produced by the New York Times (Links to an external site.). For other “how to” advice, you might check out this set of guidelines (Links to an external site.) as well.
If you are interested in reading an example of a recent and well-written review of a book on violence in Chicago, see Eric Kininberg, “Growing Up with Murder All Around (Links to an external site.)” New York Times (2019).
Formatting Guidelines
Use double spacing, 12 point font, regular margins.
Use page numbers.
Put your name and the title of the book under review at the top of the page. There is no need for a title page or a references list.
If you quote from the book, simply list the page number at the end of the sentence: example “quotation” (3).
Good luck!