Books as Secondary Sources

Books or Monographs^[1]

The book remains the standard means of written communication for historians. Secondary source books provide analysis and interpretation of primary sources and other secondary works.

“The standard type of secondary book in history is the scholarly nonfiction monograph. Intended for an academic audience, it is an extensive, in-depth discussion of a topic.”^[2]

Another type of secondary source book is an edited collection of essays on one topic by many different historians.

Because of their length, books are able to “thoroughly examine large topics intensively, make extended arguments, and raise many questions around a diversity of issues.”^[3]

Reading books for research

There will be books that you will need to read cover-to-cover to understand a historian’s argument thoroughly. At other times you may just need to understand a portion of an argument contained within a book. If this is the case, be sure to read the introduction and conclusion and the section relevant to your question so that you can situate the author’s argument. You can use the table of contents and index to identify the sections of a book that meet your research needs. By examining a variety of monographs you will develop a better understanding of the questions historians have asked about your topic.

Catalogs contain descriptive listings of books contained within a collection. Locating books, print and electronic, will be discussed in a later chapter.