In 1968 he visited Cuba for the first time, which led to a continuing interest in that country that would eventually lead to a book called Dateline Havana (2009).
[3] In 1968-9 Erlich worked as a staff writer and research editor for Ramparts, a national investigative reporting magazine published in San Francisco.
His book The Iran Agenda: the Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis was published in October 2007 with a foreword by Robert Scheer.
In a San Francisco Chronicle book review, Ruth Rosen wrote, "Some people are treated as pariahs when they tell the truth; later, history lauds them for their courage and convictions.
In a starred review of Inside Syria, Publishers Weekly wrote, Erlich's "insights and conclusions are objective and valuable.