I’m interested in the noble and increasingly despised art of writing book reviews. Although it represents a time-consuming activity with no direct academic benefit to the writer, I see book reviews as an important form of intellectual service that can also be enjoyable. For this reason, I try to allocate a reasonable portion of my time to it and encourage book review editors to reach out to me for books that fall within my range of interest and expertise. 

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In creating this page, I’ve been inspired by Michael Gordin, a historian of science from Princeton, a unicum not only in cultivating but also in publicly promoting this activity (http://www.michaelgordin.com/reviews), and by conversations with my supporting office mate Hari Sridhar. I thank Nicola Giocoli, editor of History of Economic Ideas, who over the years has allowed me to review the books that interested me.  

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A couple of recent editorial perspectives on book reviews in academic fields:

• Editing Book Reviews in the History of Economics. An Interview with Steven G. Medema (interview with S.G. Medema) 

• Editorial | Metascience (editorial by Gregory Radick)