Writing a critical review on an academic book can be a scary task, yet one that is more and more requested by undergraduate and graduate students. Following this basic draw round will help you write such a difficult book review [http://www.readingforyoursuccess.com/].

Start from reading the book and taking good notes of key points. You can write in the margins of the book, anything that you think is interesting or important but may forget later to add, so that you can easily come back to it soon after.

Title your book review with a standard style and begin your review by explaining the purpose and thesis of the book and the basic idea with which the author wrote the book. Discuss on the way the author has organised the book, the manner in which various chapters and sections are divided. Feel free to take in brief summaries of the chapters or sections here.

By far the most complicated section, here, you need to describe the methodology used throughout the work. That is to say, how does the author analyze his or her own material and how do the theories used by him relate to the purpose and thesis.

Write down if you know about the sources and evidences that can prove the author's thesis. These sources may include archaeology, linguistics, newspapers, documents, letters, etc. Explain how the author uses these sources and how the sources pertain to the author's thesis and methodology.

Evaluate how well the author proved the thesis. You need to make your own critical evaluation of the work. Explain how successfully the things worked in your viewpoint and if there are certain things that you liked or do not like. In case, you do not like some pieces of work you must explain your remarks in a courteous manner. In the end, conclude the review by relating this work to other scholarship in the discipline.