Educated at Manchester Grammar School, H A Meek

read Architecture at Manchester University. After serving

for 12 years as Ancient Monuments Architect to the

Government in Northern Ireland, Dr Meek lectured on

the History of Architecture at Queen's University, Belfast.

The author of the standard work on Guarino Guarini,

he has worked as an editor on the Macmillan Dictionary of

Art and has a reading knowledge of about 20 languages.

He lives in the north of England with his wife and a large

library. Though not overly pious, he likes to fill in his

Saturday mornings with a visit to the local school.

The specially commissioned photographs are by Matthew

Weinreb, a prize-winning photographer based in London,

whose books include London: Portrait of a City , and Paris:

Portrait of a City , both published by Phaidon.

Throughout the long and often tortuous history of the

Jews, the synagogue has been a constant presence

and a source of spiritual strength. Playing a symbolic as

well as a practical role, it has acted as a focus for the faith

of countless Jewish communities all over the world. The

significance placed on the synagogue, with its rituals and

traditions, emphasizes the fact that Judaism is not simply

a religion but a way of life.

In a lively and compelling narrative, H A Meek gradually

unfolds the story of the synagogue from its origins in

Solomon's Temple to its exuberant Baroque phase in

Venice and thence to the classic simplicity of the modern

building. Over the course of several millennia, the style

of the synagogues has grown and developed, drawing in

a vast array of cultural and artistic influences to produce

a rich and coherent heritage. A heritage that is always

aware of its biblical antecedents and still strongly based

on God's commandments to Moses to construct a

Tabernacle in the desert.

Magnificently illustrated, with much specially commissioned

photography from around the world, this book

provides a detailed and comprehensive picture of the

synagogue and its decoration. Numerous metropolitan

and provincial synagogues, from the flamboyantly Moorish

to the sparsely contemporary, are represented as a

monument to the art and architecture of Judaism. A book

to be savoured and treasured. The Synagogue will inspire

and fascinate both Jews and Gentiles alike.

`A delicious book. Meek has an car for the engaging

anecdote and an eye for the glorious edifice or architectural

detail.' ( Newsday )

`This well-designed work will serve as a splendid gift

book, suitable for the bar or bar mitzvah. The colour

photography is indeed beautiful.' ( Jewish Book World )