The Naval Historical Foundation runs a thriving book review program. Members of the Naval Historical Foundation are eligible to write reviews and should contact us if they wish to participate.
Reviewing a Book
We regularly receive review copies of new publications about naval history from publishers around the world. Additionally, we encourage NHF members who have published books to provide us with a review copy. The copies are provided to us gratis, with the intention of spurring reviews and informed dialogue about the book. Potential reviewers should contact Dr. David Winkler at [email protected] with requests to review a book. Books are sent out within a few days, and the reviewer is allowed to keep the book for his or her own collection. Draft reviews are submitted to NHF and edited for content, length, and clarity.
Publishing the Reviews
New reviews are posted on our website and an email promoting them is sent to our members. In the review, a link is provided to purchase the book on Amazon, with a small referral fee being provided to NHF for each sale. Readers can comment on the review on our website.
All reviews are edited and approved by our staff. The Naval Historical Foundation reserves the right to not publish reviews which we believe do not meet our guidelines.
Guidelines for Reviewers
A good book review takes craftsmanship. A reviewer has a responsibility to be objective and to provide good analysis of the work. How does this book fill a void in our understanding of naval history? How well is the narrative written? Does the author get bogged down with techno-jargon? Is the material new or a synthesis that builds on the work of others? If it builds on (or differs from) other works, note that in the review. Look at the bibliography, citations, and index — if one of those is weak or non-existent, mention that as well. Finally, a word or two about the author’s background should be noted — what else he/she has written and how those books were reviewed. Many of our reviewers have even taken the opportunity to talk with the author to gain insights about the quality of research and motivation behind the writing. Lastly, for our purposes, we are looking for 500-1,000 words.
*The opinions expressed in each review are the opinions of the reviewer alone and do not represent the official position of the Naval Historical Foundation.