Reviews are 3-6 pages and usually have a) An INTRO TO THE AREA so that people who DO NOT do this stuff can understand WHAT this stuff is. This is less important if its a textbook or a book on stuff everyone knows. b) SUMMARY of the book tells whats in the book. Hypothetically someone who understood the intro should be able to follow this. c) OPINION. This should say clearly WHO would benefit from the book. While these can be negative they rarely are. There are a few issues: i) What level is it supposed to be on? (e.g., you can't blame an advanced monograph for not defining some basic terms) ii) Is it well written? iii) Is it technically correct. EXAMPLES: There can be a well-written book on Davenport-Schnitzer sequences (a very specialized topic) and the reviewer can say its a well-written book but still caution that if you don't care about Davenport-Schnitzer sequences, you won't like the book. There can be a well-written book on Crypto that is just plain WRONG on some important points (e.g., RSA is equivalent to factoring) whose audience is undergrads. Mention all these points- well-written BUT flawed. You can interject your own opinion about if the flaws outweight the value. There can be a badly-written book on a topic near-and-dear to your heart. Even so, you must tell the reader its badly written. d) Reviews should be in latex. I can email you a template for format. e) My website has past columns you can look at to see what I want. You may note that NOT all reviews fit the rigid format above. Thats okay--- if some other format fits you better you can use it, but you should convey the INFORMATION mentioned above. f) You get to KEEP the book. WOW! g) I want to stress again that the non-specialist should be able to read your introduction and understand something about the area. You may use the intro as a way to sell the area if you want (see next point) h) You may want to use your review to make some POINT of more general interest. (E.g., I will be reviwing a book that is mostly pre-RSA crypto and will make the point that pre-RSA crypto is worth studying) i) You really need to read/skim the entire book. To just paraphrase things from the introduction is not good. Books of this nature are hard to actually read and finish but you really should KNOW whats in them cover to cover, skipping details. bill g.