West is the author of The Shakespeare First Folio: The History of the Book (Oxford University Press, 2001). This is the first volume in a projected four volume series on the Shakespeare First Folio, one of the most famous books of all time and perhaps the most famous book in the history of English literature. His completed study will be one of the most comprehensive accounts of any single edition of a literary author ever produced.

West completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School and for thirty years spent his career in international business. More recently, he completed a PhD in English at the University College London under the supervision of Henry Woudhuysen.