Nathan,"5 Best Data Visualization Projects of the Year," Flowing Data, 19 December, presents them. Hat tip.

Claire Tomalin,"The house that Charles built," Guardian, 20 December, reviews Jenny Hartley's Charles Dickens and the House of Fallen Women.

Marshall Berman,"Modernism in the Streets," Dissent, Fall, reviews Peter Gay's Modernism: The Lure of Heresy.

John Steele Gordon,"Getting to Know You, Mr. Hammerstein," NYT, 24 December, reviews Amy Asch, ed., The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II.

At the end of the year, The New Republic says Michael Tomasky's"Jackboots and Whole Foods," TNR, 12 March, a review of Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning, ranks as the"Best of TNR, 2008." Goldberg disagrees, calling Tomasky's review"shameful, dishonest and just plain stupid." His fuller reply is here.