"The Talmud (/ˈtɑːlmʊd, -məd, ˈtæl-/; Hebrew: תַּלְמוּד Tálmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (halakha) and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews.
The term "Talmud" normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli), although there is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi). It may also traditionally be called Shas (ש״ס), a Hebrew abbreviation of shisha sedarim, or the "six orders" of the Mishnah.
The Talmud has two components; the Mishnah (משנה, c. 200), a written compendium of Rabbinic Judaism's Oral Torah; and the Gemara (גמרא, c. 500), an elucidation of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible. The term "Talmud" may refer to either the Gemara alone, or the Mishnah and Gemara together.
The entire Talmud consists of 63 tractates, and in the standard print, called the Vilna Shas, it is 2,711 double-sided folios. It is written in Mishnaic Hebrew and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic and contains the teachings and opinions of thousands of rabbis (dating from before the Common Era through to the fifth century) on a variety of subjects, including halakha, Jewish ethics, philosophy, customs, history, and folklore, and many other topics. The Talmud is the basis for all codes of Jewish law and is widely quoted in rabbinic literature."
(from Wikipedia)
Information about the author of the book "The Talmud of Jerusalem", available below, is provided here. This may help readers to better evaluate the contents of the book.
"Moïse Schwab (Paris, 18 September 1839 – 8 February 1918) was a French librarian and author.
He was educated at the Jewish school and the Talmud Torah at Strasburg. From 1857 to 1866 he was secretary to Salomon Munk; then for a year he was official interpreter at the Paris court of appeals; and from 1868 was librarian at the Bibliothèque Nationale. In 1880 he was sent by the minister of public instruction to Bavaria and Württemberg to make investigations with regard to early Hebrew printing-presses.
His most important work is Le Talmud de Jérusalem, which was commenced in 1867 or 1868, before the appearance of Zecharias Frankel's Introduction or of the special dictionaries of the Talmud. The first part appeared in 1871 and was well received, although the critics did not spare Schwab. He then sought the cooperation of the leading Talmudists; but he was unsuccessful and had to complete the work alone."
(from Wikipedia)
The Talmud of Jerusalem (Vol. 1: Berakhoth) (file size: about 15 MB)
Information about the author of the book "The History of the Talmud" and "The Babylonian Talmud," available below, is provided here. This may help readers to better evaluate the contents of the book.
"Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845–1904) was an American publisher, known for being the first to translate the Babylonian Talmud to English.
"He lived in Germany for a period of time where he published some of his books, then moved to the United States and settled in New York City, where he worked as a publisher. Among his works is an uncompleted translation of the Babylonian Talmud to English. The translation was harshly reviewed, eliciting the derision of talmudists such as Kaufmann Kohler, who labeled Rodkinson a "sham scholar" for the many apparently misinformed or naive translations of common talmudical terms."
(from Wikipedia)
The History of the Talmud (file size: about 11 MB)
(The book has two volumes. The file contains both volumes. Volume 2 starts after page 160.)