This layout poses many dangers for the serious historian, not the least of which being the scornful reception that academics - motivated partly by snobbish elitism but also by genuine concern over scholarly standard - generally reserve for books apparently aimed at the popular market.
To my understanding, this sentence means that the layout may cause dangers to the serious historian, especially the scornful receptions from other academics. I am wondering if I can change the sentence into something like:
This layout poses many dangers for the serious historian, among which not the least is the scornful reception reserved for books aimed at the popular market.
Is "is" grammatically correct in the sentence I put forward? Is not, why "being" would be grammatically correct? Also, why does the author put "not the least" in front of "of which"?