About the ARB

The Asian Review of Books is the only dedicated pan-Asian book review publication. Widely quoted, referenced,  republished by leading publications in Asia and beyond and with an archive of more than two thousand book reviews, the ARB also features long-format essays by leading Asian writers and thinkers, excerpts from newly-published books and reviews of arts and culture. It provides an unparalleled forum for discussion of key contemporary issues by Asians for Asia and a vehicle of intellectual depth and breadth where leading thinkers can write on the books, arts and ideas of the day. A weekly podcast was added in 2021.

ARB reviews are often reprinted by such publications as the South China Morning Post and Scroll.in.

The Asian Review of Books is the only dedicated

pan-Asian book review publication

The founder and editor of the ARB is Peter Gordon. He is also publisher at Chameleon Press, a frequent commentator in regional Asian media and was a founder and former organizer of such initiatives as the Man Asian Literary Prize and the Hong Kong International Literary Festival and is co-author of The Silver Way: China, Spanish America and the birth of globalisation 1565-1815 (Penguin Specials 2017) and Painter and Patron: The Maritime Silk Road in the Códice Casanatense (Abbreviated Press 2020).

General mail, review requests may be sent to the editor.


Letters to the Editor may be sent to letters@asianreviewofbooks.com. All letters received will be assumed to be for publication and are subject to editing. The Asian Review of of Books welcomes substantive replies to its articles and reviews: preference will be given to longer, reasoned letters which add to the discussion of the subject in question. The author of the original article may be asked to respond.


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Opinions expressed are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the publication or its editors.