Allan Levine's biography of Toronto is a triumph of historical
storytelling. Avoiding the worn path of grand themes and broad concepts
of civic evolution, he instead ventures out, engagingly marshalling
real-time encounters of people, places and events--the good, the bad and
the ugly of it all. This fresh take on Toronto evokes a saga of the city
that keeps the delighted reader turning the pages, eager to enjoy--and
learn--more.
--David Crombie, Former mayor of Toronto
In the last seventy years, Toronto has been transformed from a
provincial town to a significant urban heavyweight. Few cities have
experienced such sustained growth, and the packed streets of North
America's fourth-largest city are a far cry from the origins of the city
as "Little York," which was comprised of the Lieutenant-Governor's muddy
tent--which he shared with his wife and many children--and some
barracks. Between then and now, fervent Orangemen have imposed strict
morals on the growing provincial town, and an influx of immigrants has
changed the face of the city.
With the same eye for character, anecdote and circumstance that made
Peter Ackroyd's London and Colin Jones's Paris so successful,
Levine's captivating prose integrates the sights, sounds and feel of
Toronto with a broad historical perspective, linking the city's present
with its past through themes such as politics, transportation, public
health, ethnic diversity and sports. Toronto invites readers to
discover the city's lively spirit over four centuries and to wander
purposefully through the city's many unique neighbourhoods, where they
can encounter the striking and peculiar characters who have inhabited
them: the powerful and powerless, the entrepreneurs and the
entertainers, and the moral and the corrupt, all of whom have
contributed to Toronto's collective identity.
