Problem
Textbook: Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680: Volume One: The Lands below the Winds by Anthony Reid.
A. What academic discipline was the author trained in? What other books, articles, or conference papers has s/he written? How does this book relate to or follow from the previous work of the author? Has the author or this book won any awards?
B. What is the historical argument of the author? What is his focus? What is the author's subject, argument, and thesis?
C. In a few sentences, describe the time period, major events, geographical scope and group or groups of people who are being investigated in the book. Why has the author chosen the starting and ending dates of the book's narrative? What is the structure of the book?
D. Are the chapters organized chronologically, thematically, by group of historical actors, from general to specific, or in some other way? How does the structure of the work enhance or detract from the argument?
E. Is the argument based on data, narrative, or both? Are narrative anecdotes the basis of the argument or do they supplement other evidence? Are there other kinds of evidence that the author should have included? Is the evidence convincing? If so, find a particularly supportive example and explain how it supports the author's thesis. If not, give an example and explain what part of the argument is not supported by evidence.
F. What different kinds of primary sources are used? What type of source is most important in the argument? Do these sources allow the author to adequately explore the subject? Are there important issues that the author cannot address based on these sources?
G. How about the secondary sources? Are there one or more secondary books that the author seems to lean heavily on in support of the argument? Are there works that the author disagrees with in the text?
H. Is the argument convincing as a whole?