Catherine,"Share of GDP: China, India, Japan, Latin America, Western Europe, United States," Visualizing Economics, 20 January, has a fascinating graph of shifts in regional shares of the world's GDP since 1500 CE. Thanks to Manan Ahmed for the tip.

Jerry Weinberger,"Rebels with Causes," City Journal, 18 January, reviews Christopher Hitchens's Thomas Paine's Rights of Man: A Biography.

David Bosco,"Moral Principle v. Military Necessity," American Scholar, Winter, looks back at Francis Lieber, the German immigrant scholar and unlikely author of the first code of military conduct. Hat tip.

William Grimes,"Ruses and Daring Escapes by a Jew in Nazi Germany," NYT, 23 January, reviews Cioma Schönhaus's The Forger: An Extraordinary Story of Survival in Wartime Berlin.

Cory Doctorow points out that The Atlantic's website, including its archives that stretch back to 1857, is now firewall-free. A reading assignment for my friend, R. R. Hamilton: Amy Waldman's"The Truth about Jena," Atlantic, January/February.

Finally, Andy Guess,"Harassment vs. Academic Freedom, Round Two," IHE, 24 January, brings us up to date on charges against Donald Hindley at Brandeis and the administration's troubling handling of them. This case has had considerable attention from both Margaret Soltan and Eugene Volokh.