Cheaters Never Prosper?

Now that Chapter Two of The Thesis has been submitted, I have decided to write Chapter One.

In this chapter, I will need to review literature on North Country, archaeology in North Country, and Arena of Study in North Country.

And I have discovered that this adds up to a heck of a lot of books!

I've read enough reviews of North Country literature to know the central thesis of each of these books, as well as the strengths and the weaknesses of their arguments, without actually reading these books. And with the help of some book reviews, I could probably write up the whole chapter by the end of the month.

So, my question is:

Is it cheating to write a review of literature that I haven't actually read?