Research the historical topic of the book you are going to review. In order to give a fair and balanced critique of the book, understanding the historical events that take place is vital. A great way to understand more about the author and her way of writing is to read other published works by her if possible. As with any review, having a lack of experience in a certain genre can make the critique seem narrow minded and inaccurate, so try to read many historical books before submitting a professional review.
Read the historical book more than once to get a thorough understanding of what it is about. While going through it a second time, pay close attention to how the author is presenting the facts and what the intention of the author is.
Write the review after the book has been read and understood completely. Make sure the review is interesting and attention grabbing so that the audience will continue to read what you have to say. A historical book review should be an equal blend of information and opinion and also presented in such a way that the readers can determine if they would be interested in the book.
Determine whether the author;s intentions were met in the book, and critique them within the historical genre or background of events. At this point, you could mention in your review whether the author was successful or not in finishing what he set out to do while writing a historical book.
Tie up the book review with an opinion and provide the reader with a critique of the whole book and not just specific instances. A book review should have the following parts: description of content, author;s intentions, comparison to other historical books and the significance this author has on the historical genre.