He has authored non-fiction books including Lawrence in Arabia, The Man Who Tried to Save the World, and War Zones, as well as the novels Triage and Moonlight Hotel.
The authors provide anecdotal evidence, observations and protestations from those experiencing violent conflicts in El Salvador, Northern Ireland, Uganda, Sri Lanka, and Israel.
In this book, Anderson tells the true story of four murders carried out in 1988 in Texas by a self-proclaimed Mormon prophet, Heber LeBaron of the Church of the Firstborn.
Anderson's career as a published war correspondent began in 1994 with an article in the New York Times Magazine about violence as a result of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
For the article, Anderson travelled regularly, throughout the years before publication, to Northern Ireland to gain a glimpse into "the Belfast underworld" and met members of the Provisional IRA, for instance.
[25][26] In 2011, Anderson published an article for Esquire, detailing his experience (alongside Sebastian Junger and John Faulk) in Bosnia when the CIA were hunting for Ratko Mladic, a former Bosnian military officer and convicted war criminal.
[27] In a 2017 interview, Anderson describes becoming a parent as having affected his decision to limit active war reporting, saying he has a "moral responsibility" to stay safe for his child.
Anderson continued to cover international issues, for instance, in 2007 he wrote about the experience of those living on the Panamanian island of Coiba with high murder rates and gangs.
[28] In 2008, Anderson discussed the issue of suicide and poor mental health in America,[29] and a 2012 article featured his interview with Greg Ousley, who murdered his parents at the age of fourteen in 1993, and explored the debate around long prison sentences for juveniles.
[30] Anderson's journalism has covered the topics of national security, central intelligence (particularly the CIA's involvement in the Middle East), law enforcement and migrant crossings.
[31][32][33][34] Since 2000, Anderson co-owned bar-restaurant The Half King, in New York City, with wife Nanette Burstein and fellow journalist Sebastian Junger until it closed in January 2019.
"[37] Publisher's Weekly described Anderson as providing "a riveting, dark history […] in copious, sometimes numbing detail, but always with a tart tongue" in The 4 O'clock Murders.
Christopher de Bellaigue wrote for The Guardian that "Anderson is a bleak but fair-minded historian, alive to the cynicism and prejudice that decided actions on all sides.
In a review Ian Thomson for The Observer said "Scott Anderson's account of the Arab revolt and the life of TE Lawrence is both scholarly and highly readable.
"[48] Mahon Murphy, historian and research fellow, in a review for the London School of Economics and Political Science, said it is a "vivid attempt" to understand the conflict in the Middle East but questions Anderson's choice to focus on Lawrence.
Kevin Peraino, for The New York Times, described it as "enthralling" and said concludes "Anderson’s narrative is certainly entertaining, but he is no confectioner, and the dark, poignant tale he tells is far the better for it.
[55][17] In a September 2009 issue of GQ, Anderson wrote an article supporting the theory of Putin's role in the Russian apartment bombings, based in part on his interviews with Mikhail Trepashkin.