Brief, yet comprehensive, this user-friendly text/reference provides history students with practical advice about how to improve their writing and study skills while learning about history. It presents the discipline of history as a very relevant social science, demystifies the writing process, lessens students' anxiety over library research, and reviews the rudimentary skills necessary for "surviving" a college history course. It offers guides to preparing different types of history papers and features fun and interesting creative writing exercises that invite students into the world of writing history in unique ways that are more enjoyable than traditional approaches.