10x10 collects personal essays by ten leading contemporary social science scholars on the ten works they each find have formed their own academic development the most. Based on the insights and experiences of people who have formed their various fields in important ways, it offers personal reviews, reflections, and recommendations of a 100 works that function as a more personal and sometimes idiosyncratic alternative to the lists of 'classics' found elsewhere. 10x10 deals not with an anonymous 'canon', but with the actual sources of inspiration for great scholarship. Those who have taken up the invitation to write about the greatest impacts on their own thought - inspirations stretching from Genesis to Public Choice theory - includes B. Guy Peters, Chantal Mouffe, Elinor Ostrom, James M. Buchanan, Joseph H.H. Weiler, Kalevi Holsti, Kenneth Waltz, Ole Borre, Richard Katz, and Thomas Hylland Eriksen. These eminent scholars here describe in their own words what made a difference for them, and why the rest of us should stand up, take notice, and read these books too.