Strategic Studies Quarterly

Book Analysis Guidelines

     PLEASE NOTE CHANGE: SSQ books for review are currently combined with ASPJ books for review during SSQ's transition to Æther: A Journal of Strategic Airpower & Spacepower and ASPJ's transition to Air and Space Operations Review (ASOR) beginning with the Spring 2022 issues. Additionally, book reviews for both journals will be featured as a single effort under a new website (information forthcoming). Please see https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/ASPJ/Books/. Submission requirements are the same as for ASPJ, but submit reviews and questions to aspj@au.af.edu.

          Reviewers are asked to analyze the book and provide an exclusive, original, unpublished, concise evaluation. The analysis should be written in an authoritative style using the following guidelines:

  • The first section of the analysis should normally be the shortest and indicate the type of book (biography, anthology, history, monograph, etc.). Include a very short author biographic citation and then describe the context of the book in the literature of the field. Again, this section should be brief.

  • Next, thoroughly analyze the thesis and arguments in the work. What are the strong points of the argument? What are the limitations in the work, including author biases? Is the thesis supported? What are the implications of the argument? Are there any profound aspects of the book? This section will be the longest part of the analysis. 

  • Finally, the analysis should finish with recommendations for improvement. Clearly state whether this book is worth reading, who may find this book most interesting, and why.

Administrative Guidelines

     All books are free to reviewers. Please email your analysis (in MS Word.doc format) within 45 days of book receipt to aspj@au.af.edu. Limit your text to approximately 1,000 words, carefully edited. Analyses may be edited for length and style.

     Include the title, author, publisher, and number of pages in the review heading as in the example below:  

     America's Entangling Alliances: 1778 to the Present by Jason W. Davidson. Georgetown University Press, 2020, 281 pp.

     Also include your name and a brief author citation establishing your credentials as an analyst.

   

Direct questions on editorial issues to the SSQ editor:

     Email: aether-journal@au.af.edu   Phone: (334) 953-7311 / DSN 493-7311

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