Books to read & refer to on Personal Statement

Hey all,
Currently trying to write my personal statement before I apply to do history in 2009. I haven't really read many books, and so I will over summer...but which ones? Are there any that go down particularly well, or are they impressed by anything history related?

Thankyou :biggrin:

Reply 1

apotoftea

19

Ones that suit YOUR interests and YOUR interests only. Absolutely no point reading stuff for the sake of it. Don't mention books just because you think it looks good.

Avoid anything even vaguely "public" history related ie: anything by Antonia Fraser, Phillippa Gregory (to some extent) etc etc. BBC History and History Today are ok but not all departments like those sorts of publications either (not that you'd know who does and who doesn't).

Also include any extra-curricular activities that involve History - volunteer work at a NT property, helped at a museum etc.

Reply 2

Milady de Winter

The End of History, by Francis Fukuyama :biggrin:

Reply 3

Ethereal

19

Read something unrelate to the subject you will be doing your degree in - last chance for 3 years!

Reply 4

Milady de Winter

Don't listen to Ethereal's anti-history propaganda! :biggrin:

Reply 5

Ethereal

19

Milady de Winter

Don't listen to Ethereal's anti-history propaganda! :biggrin:

That's got nothing to do with it. I say the same to law students. It's a crying shame to waste your last summer before your degree reading stuff you think will help which won't.

Reply 6

The Socialite

14

Really depends on what period of history particularly fascinates you (because you'd write this on your personal statement as a period you'd like to specialise in later or something). Reading books by historians will be interesting if you actually like the topic at hand because...they do go into a bit of detail. It might be a good idea to read a novel or colloquially languaged book about a particular historical period to evoke your interest, and then read two books from historians with conflicting views so that you can say in your personal statement how you find it interesting that sources/events can be analysed and interpreted in different ways. Then you can mention a particular event and the conflicting views on it as an example.

Anyway, that's just an idea.

Livs

Reply 7

laughingwithpicasso

9

Andrew Marr. :biggrin:

Reply 8

apotoftea

19

Milady de Winter

The End of History, by Francis Fukuyama :biggrin:

Some departments would love that :biggrin:

(and I mean love, not sarcastic love)

Reply 9

Mark Corrigan

7

Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed is a stunner.

Reply 10

Wez

14

As long as you avoid E. H. Carr's What is History? you can read virtually anything written by a semi-decent historian.

Reply 11

Sam o0o

OP

13

Awesome, cheers guys. And btw, I'm not going to uni in september/october so this isn't my last summer...I'm going to be "perfecting" my PS over the next couple of months, and had nothing to say about extra reading.
Thanks for the help.

Reply 12

affinity89

17

I don't think I put in any 'extra reading' statements lol. I mentioned Paul Laurence Dunbar and Sarah Waters as I they are my favourite authors/poets. I linked it to history as the former writes (among other things) about the feelings of African Americans once slavery was outlawed and the latter writes historical novels, dealing with topics that would have been too taboo at the time.

I think if you have to be careful to make sure it doesn't come across as forced or just for the purpose of your PS. Especially as you may be quizzed on your interest in it at an interview.

Reply 13

Sam o0o

OP

13

Does anyone actually get interviewed anyway? I'm not going for Oxbridge, and the only Uni I've visited (Bristol) say they do everything possible to avoid it.

Reply 14

affinity89

17

Sam o0o

Does anyone actually get interviewed anyway? I'm not going for Oxbridge, and the only Uni I've visited (Bristol) say they do everything possible to avoid it.

I got interviewed at one of my options as they interviewed all the applicants. At a couple of the other universities I had group chats with the lecturers on the open days, where they had read the personal statements of those in their group and made reference to them.

If you can't talk passionately and truthfully about something you have read and you none-PS related reasons for reading it, you shouldn't put it down. Find something you would read regardless of university/PS and go for that.

Reply 15

Shadow of a Dream

Sam o0o

Does anyone actually get interviewed anyway? I'm not going for Oxbridge, and the only Uni I've visited (Bristol) say they do everything possible to avoid it.

It varies from uni to uni, but of the 5 that I applied to in October, only two interviewed (Cambridge and UCL). Bristol was one of those that didn't. But it's worth digging around to check if this is the case with all of your choices, I think that the key to a personal statement (from my experience at least :redface:

), even if some of your choices interview, is to write it so that it stands alone (so unis like Bristol, for example, could look at it and feel like they've had a real insight into you as a candidate), but equally has enough to support a discussion at interview. Sorry, that got a bit waffly - and it's probably what you were going to do anyway!! :redface:

Regarding books to write on a personal statement, I didn't mention any specific books/authors in mine - I just spoke generally about my relationship with the subject, and mentioned periods/topics etc in relation to this. But in terms of reading, just read anything that interests you :smile:

If you love it, then you'll be able to talk about it (should the need arise, even if just in your statement) with real passion, which (in my eyes at least!) means more than just name-dropping.

Hope this is of some help to you :smile:

Reply 16

Sam o0o

OP

13

Ah ok, yeah that's pretty much what I did, and my teacher said it was pretty good...which is good haha.

Thanks for the help :smile:

Reply 17

peachmelba

8

Why not read a bit more deeply around your A level syllabus? Ask your history teacher for suggestions. At worst, it will make you better equipped for exams next summer.

Reply 18

*River

15

I didn't mention any books in my personal statement. If you do mention them, don't just do it like a shopping list.

You'll probably find something related to a topic you already have an understanding of easier to read.

Reply 19

ElfGirl

apotoftea

Avoid anything even vaguely "public" history related ie: anything by Antonia Fraser, Phillippa Gregory (to some extent) etc etc. BBC History and History Today are ok but not all departments like those sorts of publications either (not that you'd know who does and who doesn't).

So are Antonia Fraser's books not thought of that highly? And doesn't Phillippa Gregory only write fiction books? Is it alright to mention fictional books that got you interested in certain times in history in your PS then?

Books to read & refer to on Personal Statement

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