Avrutin (modern European Jewish history) and Murav (Slaviclanguages and literatures), both at the U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, introduce Klier (1944-2007) as a pioneering UIscholar on Jewish-Russian history on Jews in the East Europeanborderlands. Based on a conference honoring Klier held in 2009and new archival sources, this collection of a dozen essays byinternational contributors examines factors that impacted Jewishcommunal life and culture in the late imperial and early Sovietperiods, the establishment of Jewish communities in the easternborderlands of Europe, and the genealogy of anti-Jewish violencein these areas. Conflicting images of such Jewish life is examinedin the Yiddish works of An-sky and Sholem-aleichem. Illustrationsinclude a Russian anti-Semitic cartoon and photographs of deathcamps. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)