The Wisdom of the Talmud by Ben Zion Bokser [1951]

This is a fairly up-to-date and highly readable introduction to the Talmud, the age-old storehouse of Jewish wisdom. Bokser covers the long history of the Talmud, from its origin in the Babylonian exile, its growth through the five centuries after the Roman destruction of the Temple, and the later persecution of the Talmud. The book covers a number of high-level topics, including social ethics and personal morality, with numerous examples from the Talmud. --J.B. Hare, 1/3/2009.