The Talmud: A Biography by Barry Scott Wimpfheimer is a well-written and informative journey through the groundwork laid for the Talmud, up to its modern incarnations and possible future.
One important element that the author lays out with great clarity (which I never fully realized before) is that the growth of “codes” to organize and in a sense replace the Talmud in the Middle Ages failed to take hold by a concerted effort by Litvak Jews and the growth of the “modern” yeshiva.
The Litvak yeshiva held the Talmud as the pinnacle of Jewish learning, as it was (and is) so demanding to study. This was a way to assert authority. Wimpfheimer shows us the pride of place of the Talmud among (certain) religious Jews is in fact a modern phenomenon.
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