Midweek Notes

Daisy Banks interviews "Emma Rothschild on Economic History," The Browser, for her recommendation of five essential books on the subject.

Elaine Sciolino, "Leonardo Painting's Restoration Bitterly Divides Art Experts," NYT, 3 January, features the controversy among art historians over the restoration of Leonardo da Vinci's "Virgin and Child With Saint Anne."

Michael Kimmelman, "The Grid at 200: Lines That Shaped Manhattan," NYT, 2 January, reviews "The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011," an exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York.

James Rosen reviews Carl T. Bogus's Buckley: William F. Buckley, Jr., and the Rise of American Conservatism for the Washington Post, 30 December. Kelefa Sanneh, "Bottle Rocket," New Yorker, 9 January, is perhaps the best piece of journalism on Newt Gingrich's candidacy for President.