In a question-and-answer-style format, Anderson's book tackles the controversial and convoluted world of antiquities. Self-proclaimed as noncomprehensive, it offers ‘bite-size’ information on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the history of collecting to the state of antiquities in today's digital age. As a longstanding art museum director and former president of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), Anderson is well equipped to offer valuable insight into the topic of antiquities.

The first section, Legal and Practical Realities, begins with an exploration of what antiquities are and how they are defined. In separating antiquities into archaeological materials and ancient art, Anderson attempts to explain the importance of context and how it is used as a basis for determining how an antiquity is categorized. However, archaeologists and art historians often discuss ancient ‘artworks’ found in situ, and therefore his definition is somewhat confusing. Terms such as provenienced and unprovenienced, versus provenanced and unprovenanced, would be better suited to his discussion, and it is surprising that he does not provide detailed discussions of these terms given that they are used with relative frequency in the academic community.

Next, Anderson summarizes the AAMD survey that was undertaken to better clarify the timeframe of ‘antiquity’. This is useful as a means of demonstrating a lack of consensus among museums and university professionals, and to emphasize that the identification of the ancient past is not something universally agreed upon. The section continues with a discussion of collecting in antiquity, which is overly long in comparison to other topics and serves to highlight lack of consistency in the book. An interesting examination of the fate of antiquities in today's political climate follows, with Anderson tackling important questions such as why modern nations lay claim to antiquities from ancient cultures. Other questions such as those on ‘repose’ are especially valuable but deserving of an expanded discussion.

The section continues with the debate between archaeologists and collectors regarding antiquities. In the wake of the Society for American Archaeology's recently formed Archaeologist-Collector Collaboration Interest Group, this section of the book contributes to the discipline in a timely manner. To conclude the first section, Anderson turns his attention to forged antiquities, and discussion includes the difficulties of authentication and the problem of training younger generations of scholars with digital images as opposed to physical objects. The question of what authenticity is, and how it is valued in society, is an issue that scholars have been grappling with for some time. While Anderson may not resolve this issue, he does recognize its importance and attempts to contribute to the debate.

The second section of the book, Settled Law and Open Questions, reveals the complicated legal world surrounding antiquities. Refreshingly, not only does Anderson discuss the much-cited UNESCO 1970 convention, he also explains how the convention plays out. In addition, he calls attention to other international conventions and discusses their ineffectiveness concerning antiquities. Additionally, he explains the legislation of major art-importing nations and contrasts this with source nations to provide an excellent overview of how antiquities and heritage are protected (or not) around the world. Subsequent to the discussion of antiquities on an international scale, Anderson provides an overview of national laws and statutes and explores the confusing relationship between modern nations and ancient heritage. This strengthens the book's emphasis on how the ancient past is tied up in the political present.

The second section continues with a discussion of how excavation differs from chance finds and looting. The attention given to looting is perhaps not as detailed as one would expect from a book focusing on antiquities, and there is certainly cause to expand the discussion. What is surprising is the attention given to shipwrecks and underwater archaeology, because it is often considered a specialist subject within the discipline. However, it certainly provides the reader with food for thought on often-overlooked aspects of archaeology and heritage. Closing the second section of the book is the topic of antiquities in the marketplace, in which Anderson clearly explains the differences between legal and illegal sales.

The third and final section of the book, Scenarios and Solutions, begins by addressing the storage and care of antiquities. Anderson proposes possible solutions and scenarios to help overcome the lack of storage, including long-term loans and creation of a licit market to disseminate objects to museums and private collections. Many in the discipline will recall the sale of Egyptian antiquities by the Archaeological Institute of America St. Louis Society in 2014, an event that gained widespread disapproval, and it is likely that Anderson's suggestion of a licit market will be equally unfavorable. The section continues with a discussion of antiquities in the digital age. Importantly, in addition to advances that have been made, Anderson also identifies shortcomings and suggests that collaborative and integrated databases will provide solutions to many of the existing problems regarding documentation and research.

In exploring potentials of digital technologies such as 3-D printing, Anderson revisits the important topic of authenticity and encourages readers to think about new, sustainable, ways of exposing people to the past. This portion of the book covers a variety of topics that we, as archaeologists, need to consider if we are to uphold our role as responsible stewards of heritage. The subsequent dialogue covers equally important information by examining the differences between retention, restitution, and repatriation, and their close association to legal, ethical, and moral issues. Relevant to this discussion is the fate of the Parthenon Marbles, yet Anderson also strives to examine other globally important antiquities to provide readers with a wider overview of case studies. The return of antiquities is a complex, and often emotional, issue and the book deals with this in a very respectful manner. Following this section, Anderson touches again on the notion of a legal market, and examines its positive and negative impacts. The book concludes with a look ahead to the future of antiquities and ends with a positive note on the role that antiquities play in an increasingly changing world.

In sum, Antiquities: What Everyone Needs to Know is an ideal text for both the novice student and even advanced scholar interested in heritage and antiquities. The topics broached are highly relevant, the ideas presented are intriguing, and the discussion is in an easily digestible format. Anderson has certainly achieved an examination of antiquities in a modern, political, framework and encourages readers to think about the past, present, and future of antiquities.