This is no conventional dictionary. For two centuries an extensive Jewish community played an important role in English history. The book opens up a society for which we have sources 'many hundreds of times richer than those for France' (Robert Chazan). Nearly 30 self-governing communities extended across the country, from York to Exeter, Hereford to Canterbury. 42 illustrations include 14 town plans. Vestiges of the medieval Jewry remain in street names; sites of Jewish houses, synagogues and cemeteries; and archaeological sites and artefacts. 30 biographic entries examine leading members of communities; 8 family trees show that in six cases they extended over at least five generations. A wide range of entries of general interest provide details on matters as diverse as synagogues, ritual child murder, women, libraries and books, mikva'ot, Usury, herb gardens, bezant, community, treasure and laving stone. 139