How to Write a Thesis (Mit Press) Paperback – March 6, 2015

This is exactly the book I needed. And I couldn't be happier it was translated into English. Shipping was fast, and the book showed up in good condition.

I got this audible book to help me think about my dissertation proposal writing. I figure it can always be useful to be immersed in these process-based ideas to stay on target. This book was written over 30 years ago, and it is deeply relevant today. This is the kind of book that helps you think about your research while you're doing it, and the kind of book that any student undertaking a true social science research project can benefit from. There are many examples, and the reader does a good job of conveying the author's sense of humor and advisory comments.I am really glad I am listening to this on audible versus reading it because it just flows naturally and is fun to listen to.

Originally in Italian 1977, it was translated to English 1985 with some modifications to include the Chicago Manual of Style. It covers more than writing a thesis. The topics cover book research, bibliographical research, primary /secondary sources, writing style, avoiding plagiarism, content, quotes, paraphrases, tabled contents, margins, punctuations, the index card system Eco used. Eco frequently mentions the abbot Vallet inspiring him to research books, whom he included in his novel The Name of The Rose. abbot Vallet would later became his great mentor for academic humility for a book the abbot wrote in 1887. Umberto Eco a great academic and writer.

Very few books on this topic are at all concerned with the mindset of the student as he/she writes, and this concern is the chief benefit of this book. Eco genuinely cared whether his students finished their theses, and how well they were equipped for their future lives. His tone is eminently practical; here is what you need to know to get through the process; here is what you should do; here is what you should not do. His tone can still be a bit too magisterial for the undergraduate (especially today's undergraduate), and in an internet age many of his paperwork procedures are quite out of date. I'm glad the book is still in print, and happy to own a copy, but I wouldn't call it essential.

This book is nothing short of brilliant. But what would one expect from Umberto Eco? It is an old, somewhat outdated, guide for students in Italian universities, who must, as undergraduates, produce a thesis. The book is a step by step guide in how to do this. I live in the United States where there is no such demand on undergraduates, and I am a high school English teacher. Yet I am in love with this book. Eco says that the researching and writing of an extended essay is an exercise in creativity and in exploration. Anyone who is interested in writing, particularly non-fiction, or who is in charge of student writers, from high school through graduate school, should add this to hen library--right alongside Fowler's, Strunk and White, and the OED. It is that good.

Umberto Eco is not just a great writer, he is also a consummate academic in the best tradition of Humanist scholars. This is a scholarly but sensible treatise on what is otherwise a mysterious and confusing process made easy with detailed but easy to follow methods and tips and tricks. Even if you THINK you know how to write a thesis, you should buy this book. It will save you a great deal of heartache

See the Robert Eaglestone review dated 19 March 2015 in THES. This is why I bought the book, and having read it, I fully agree with the positive commentary in that review. I have now ordered a copy for my university's library, and I'll recommend it to all of my research students. Eco's specific area of academic specialisation may be very different from yours, but that should not deter you from finding out more about this book: I am a researcher in finance and accounting and still found the book to be remarkably relevant.

The book contains a set of practical suggestions based not only in good writing practices, but also based on Eco's extensive academic experience, both as a writer and a student.Though some sections that refer to practical aspects of the investigation are outdated due to the advancements in technology, the text contains valuable, evergreen tips that are essential today as much as they were when the book was first published.I highly recommend it.