How Tall Are You? How Tall Should You Be?

 

Short Japanese Surrendering to Tall Americans (thanks to Wikipedia)

I have been very interested lately in a branch of economic history that until recently I knew nothing about, but which seems to offer a way of looking at the past that has never crossed my mind before.  And it is surprisingly simple, suspiciously so in fact.  You can tell a lot about changes in society simply by looking at average height.