David Bergelson: From Modernism to Socialist Realism
Edited by Joseph Sherman and Gennady Estraikh
Studies In Yiddish 6•24 August 2007

  • ‘A happy balance between text and context... everything from a close reading of his works to an examination of the literary, historical and cultural context in which those works were produced. This book is, in effect, more than the examination of the works of one author.’ — Eric Dickens, Three Percent March 2008
  • ‘Once more the Legenda imprint brings us an exemplary collection of essays on Yiddish literature... A magisterial study of exceptional factual richness which will remain a major source-work on this topic for years to come.’ — Hugh Denman, Modern Language Review 104.1, January 2009, 297-99 (full text online)
  • ‘Bergelson was arrested early in 1949 and executed in August 1952. His work has largely fallen into oblivion... There is thus all the more reason to welcome this collection of essays. It includes a biographical study by [Joseph] Sherman and essays by various people on different aspects of Bergelson's fiction, among them a fascinating account of conflicts with Abe Cahan, editor of Forverts.’ — Antony Polonsky, Times Literary Supplement 2 May 2008, 23
  • ‘The editors have done a remarkable job collecting essays that finally put Bergelson on the map of literary and historical scholarship. This is the necessary first step in assuring that the contribution made by this important Yiddish writer to the development of world's literature does not remain unnoticed.’ — Anna Shternshis, H-Judaic January 2009

Literary Scholarship in Late Imperial Russia: Rituals of Academic Institutionalization
Andy Byford
Legenda (General Series) •14 November 2007

  • ‘A thoroughly researched, thoughtfully conceptualized, and highly informative book that will hopefully lead to further interest in the remarkable yet in many cases still underrecognized scholarship that emerged just before and after the turn of the twentieth century.’ — Barry P. Scherr, Russian Review 67.3, July 2008, 500-01
  • ‘This elegantly written account of the development of Russian literary scholarship is distinctive for its focus on academics and university professors (kabinetnye uchenye) rather than the more familiar, civic-minded criticism associated with the names of Chernyshevskii or Belinskii... it affords a number of extremely valuable insights that are highly pertinent for the student of Russian intellectual culture more broadly.’ — Frances Nethercott, Revolutionary Russia 22.1, 2009, 97-99
  • ‘Byford’s monograph makes two extremely important systemic contributions. First, it is part of a process of reassessment of the Russian nineteenth century, whereby cultural historians attempt to step out of the teleological shadow cast by the gargantuan events of the early twentieth century, and indeed, to redress the methodological blindspots that grew from the Soviet era; second, Byford also joins those few (in the UK, largely Bakhtin Circle-oriented Russianists) who strive to contextualize the insights of early twentieth-century Russian literary theorists.’ — Carol Adlam, Modern Language Review 105.2, 2010, 620-21 (full text online)
  • ‘Ces quelques remarques n'enlèvent rien à la qualité de cet ouvrage, le premier à aborder les études littéraires en Russie sous l'angle des processus d'institutionnalisation et qui, à ce titre, constitue une étude véritablement pionnière.’ — Catherine Depretto, Cahiers du Monde Russe 2010, 794-96