Twenty-five years on from its founding, the Asian Review of Books remains the only dedicated pan-Asian book review publication. Widely quoted, referenced, republished by leading publications in Asia and beyond and with an archive of several thousand book reviews, articles, essays and excerpts, the ARB provides a forum of intellectual depth and breadth where leading thinkers can write on the books, arts and ideas of the day.

Since 2021 a weekly podcast, hosted by Nicholas Gordon, has offered interviews with authors of some of the many books reviewed.

Reviews have often been reprinted by such publications as the South China Morning Post and Scroll.in.

On 1 February 2025, the Asian Review of Books became part of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, bringing a vibrant new element into the RSAA, furthering the Society’s aim of advancing knowledge and understanding of Asia, and giving the ARB the organisational structure and support that can sustain its unique position over the long term.

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).

Alison Fincher co-edits reviews of Japanese fiction and literature in translation.

General mail and review requests may be sent to the Editor.

Letters to the Editor may be sent by email to the Editor with the word “LETTER” at the beginning of the subject line.  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 invited to respond.