Barry L Stiefel is Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation and Community Planning at the College of Charleston/Clemson University, where he is interested in how local preservation efforts affects regional, national, and multi-national policies within the field of cultural resource management and heritage conservation. In 2011 he received the Excellence in Collegiate Education and Leadership (ExCEL), Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award, College of Charleston.

• Acknowledgements, List of Figures and Tables, Preface, Introduction, 1. Medieval versus Early Modern Synagogues, 2. Jews, Synagogues and Compulsory Urban Consolidation at the Dawn of the Early Modern Period, 3. Urbanization and Jewish Public Space: The First Great Synagogues, 4. Readmission and Colonial Frontiers: New Synagogues in Lands of Tolerance, 5. Jews and Early Modern Cultural Exchanges: Cross-Pollination and its Effects on Synagogue Design, 6. Lavishing the House of Assembly: Synagogues, Global Trade and Exotic Ornamentation, Conclusion: From Early Modern to Modern: Synagogues in Transition, Glossary, Notes, Works Cited, Index