Tips on Writing Briefs, Reviews
Cases: Your recitation and short overview of the cases for this class ought to contain sufficient information for the class to understand the following: 1. the court where the case was decided; 2. the facts in the case; 3. the main issue in the case; 4. how the court decided the case--the reasoning as well as the result; and 5. how the case fits into the historical context of what we are discussing/reading for the particular segment. If your paper contains these elements and you are prepared to discuss these elements, you will be successful.
Books: As for the books, the review will NOT be a simple recitation of the contents (although certainly you may need to quickly outline the incidents/events critical to understanding the author's treatment of the subject). Primarily, I am looking for an analytical review that must include a statement of the author's main thesis, how the author makes the argument for this thesis, and if it is in reference to any of the common readings or earlier class discussions, how the book contributes to scholarship in the field and/or complements or contradicts earlier scholarship. For examples of this type of review, check any of the standard history journals, including Journal of American History, American Historical Review, Western Legal History, etc., and get a feel for how historians write analytical/critical reviews.