East End Jewish Cemeteries: An Oasis in Whitechapel, a superb collection of photographs of the Brady Street and Alderney Road cemeteries in the East End by JEECS member Louis Berk, is being published on June 15.
Louis writes about his photographic work and what inspired it in the most recent issue of our magazine, The Cable, which also contains a selection of his stunning images.
His work is also featured elsewhere in this website’s news section. You can find it here.
The book, published by Amberley Publishing, will be available through booksellers, Amazon, and direct from the publishers, including in Kindle, Kobo and iBook formats.
Best of all, visitors to Louis’ own website – www.louisberk.com – can take advantage of a special introductory offer, with copies at £9.99 against the recommended retail price of £14.99. The first 100 copies sold will be numbered and individually signed by Louis.
Rachel Kolsky, East End historian and tour guide, who has written the book’s introduction, has organised an East End walk on September 17 as part of the launch events for the book. The United Synagogue, the owners of Brady Street, will also be organising a launch event.
The Brady Street and Alderney Road cemeteries are among the oldest Jewish burial grounds in the UK, dating back to not long after the arrival of the Jewish immigrants in the time of Oliver Cromwell.
There are some important memorials in both. For example, the progenitors of the Rothschild family in the UK are interred, as is that of the Hambros family. There is a magnificent memorial to Miriam Levy which is unusual in the use of both a bust of her face but also scenes from the Bible on all four sides.
At Alderney Road there are tombs to some of the earliest Jewish immigrants including the first Chief Rabbi of Great Britain.
The photographs of the Brady Street and Alderney Road cemeteries are the product of a 5-year project. Louis was given unique and exclusive access to the cemeteries by their owner, the United Synagogue of Great Britain.
The book is fully illustrated with beautiful images that have been taken with a fine-art landscape approach, which provide the reader with the opportunity to see the unique environmental aspects of the cemeteries – especially Brady Street – which are natural oases in an otherwise intensely urbanised environment.
Brady Street contains a forest of trees and shrubbery, which contradicts the dense housing blocks that surround it. It is also in line of sight of the imposing commercial towers of the City of London.
For more information visit Louis’ website (see details above) and the publisher’s website https://www.amberley-books.com/
East End Jewish Cemeteries: Brady Street and Alderney Road – An Oasis in Whitechapel. Price: £14.99. ISBN: 978-1-4456-6290-9. Paperback, 96 pages, 150 illustrations.