In 1992, on a trip to London, Harry D. Boonin, who was born and raised in Philadelphia, had the opportunity to take a walking tour of the old Jewish East End of London. Convinced that the same thing could be done in Philadelphia, Boonin returned and began to give tours of his hometown. Soon he jotted down a few notes and hoped to write a pamphlet to accompany the tour. He never wrote the pamphlet. Rather, the book is the result. Mr. Boonin is the founding president of the Philadelphia Jewish Genealogy Society.