Tutorial 1: Evaluating Secondary Sources

Finding an author's central argument

An author may be perfectly qualified to write on a subject and still take a poorly reasoned or unsupported stance on an historical topic. Don't assume you have to read a book from cover to cover to get a fix on how an author frames or interprets a topic.

Click on the parts of a book where an author might describe her approach, the sources she used, and how the work differs from others.