Toronto: Biography of a City

by Allan Levine

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 neighborhoods, where they can encounter the striking and peculiar characters who have inhabited 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Canada, Biography

464 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2014

About the author

Allan Levine was born in Winnipeg in 1956 and received a Ph.D. in history from the University of Toronto in 1985. He is the author of 10 non-fiction books that have examined a wide-range of political, social and economic issues. He has delved into Canadian, European, American and Jewish history. He has also published five historical mystery novels, including Evil of the Age and four books featuring Sam Klein. He has been freelancing articles and reviews for more than 30 years. He frequently contributes to the National Post and for the past six years has been writing a column for the Winnipeg Free Press, Now & Then, which looks at the history behind current events. In all of his work, he aims to bring the past alive and reflect on history's lessons.

Reviews

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been living in Toronto almost 30 years and never tire of reading books about its history.

This book starts us off in the early 1600s with Étienne Brûlé, who may have been the first European to explore the Toronto area in 1615. He had arrived in Quebec with Samuel de Champlain when he was about 16 as an indentured servant. The book ends with the embarrassment that is our current (but thankfully soon-to-be-ex) mayor, Rob Ford.

The chapters are:

* The Carrying Place
* British Muddy York
* The Rebellion
* A City of Courage and Green
* Hogtown the Good
* The Ward
* Toronto the Dull
* Subways, Suburbia and Paesani
* The Fastest-Growing City in North America
* Jane's Disciples
* This is Where it's at
* Multiculturalism, Merger and Mel
* Megacity Machinations (or Madness)

The book provides a lot of information about the people and happenings over the centuries. I liked that the information was provided a high level yet there was just enough info provided. With some things, I found that I was interested enough to Google to learn more.

I liked the writing style. I find that some historical books can be boring because they read like a text book ... this one didn't. Sometimes the author seemed to get gossipy about whoever he was talking about and that was fun.

Some of the information was amusing. For example, back in July 1855, an American circus was in town. Some clowns got liquored up and went to a brothel. Members of the volunteer fire brigade were also there. Nasty words were exchanged and the two groups started brawling. Drunk clowns and firemen fighting ... that would have been something to see!

It was appalling how racist Toronto was (I imagine most places were and unfortunately still are), especially against Jews, Blacks and Chinese. Back in the 1930s, Velma, a white woman, was dating Harry, a Chinese guy. Because of that, she was sentenced to one year in a reformatory with thieves, prostitutes and vagrants.

It's a substantial book (almost 500 pages) but I didn't find it dragged. There is a section at the end of the book with a lot of pictures, plus another section with an extensive bibliography if you want to read more about a person or event.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you live in Toronto or if you want to learn more about our city.

Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2014/10...

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

In typical Canadian history fashion, there's little mention of any native community when they stopped being useful to the settlers.

But other than that, I really enjoyed this book. While a bit of a slow read, this detailed account provides a good outline of the city's history, all of which is done through the lives of the people who lived in it.

[Kristine Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took the opportunity of the Covid "pause" to read this book from cover to cover. Author Allan Levine provides the reader with a survey course on the history of Toronto. Covering each decade focusing on Toronto's Who's Who at the time (mostly men), special events and occurrences, every topic covers between 2 to 4 pages; it is fast paced as he covers a lot of ground. I found it helpful to read the decades from 1920 to 1960 very helpful as I am not as familiar with the details of that time in Toronto. Reading the past 2 decades was a good reminder of some things I had forgotten about. It was fun to place myself into the retelling. He does spend an inordinate amount of time on the backstories of each of Toronto's newspapers.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toronto: Biography of a City (oorspronklijk verschenen in 2014 en heruitgegeven in 2021) bevat veel informatie, maar weinig inzicht. In korte stukjes – soms maar drie pagina’s lang – behandelt Allan Levine een brede waaier aan elementen uit de geschiedenis van Toronto. Dat is erg leerrijk, maar ook weer niet. De hoofdstukken vertonen bijvoorbeeld maar weinig samenhang, waardoor de hoofdlijnen ontduidelijk zijn. Zo is de titel van het twaalfde hoofdstuk, 'Multiculturalism, Merger and Mel' veelzeggend (het hoofdstuk gaat ook over politici als Jack Layton, over daklozen en over de SkyDome, het honkbalstadium van Toronto): is deze biografie eerder een encyclopedie?

Het zesde hoofdstuk heeft een beknoptere titel, 'The Ward'. Over die ontzettend diverse, maar ook uiterst arme buurt, die moest verdwijnen bij de bouw van het nieuwe stadhuis in de jaren 1960, las ik eerder al een boeiend boek. Levine's aanpak kan me daarentegen minder bekoren: in één beweging heeft hij het ook over de bouw van Casa Loma, het megalomane kasteel van een veel te rijke inwoner van Toronto. Doorheen heel het boek wordt Levine te veel aangetrokken door de 'rich and famous': zijn geschiedenis van Toronto is vooral hun geschiedenis. Of zoals hij het zelf in zijn conclusie schrijft, 'the city has never lacked inspirational and innovative leaders'.

In diezelfde conclusie schrijft Levine resoluut dat David Mirvish de 'most inspirational Torontonian of the past half century' is. Die man – stinkend rijk, met dank aan het succes van zijn vader, die met Honest Ed's een welbekende bazaar uitbaatte – had in 2013 namelijk het idee om Frank Gehry een groot complex van appartementsgebouwen te laten ontwerpen, met ook wel museumruimte en plaats voor kunstonderwijs. Hiermee toonde Mirvish zich 'visionair', oordeelt Levine. Tien jaar later blijkt zijn project toch vooral illusionair te zijn: er is nog niets van verwezenlijkt.

Het lot van het project van Mirvish is veelzeggend. Sinds 2013 lijkt er eigenlijk maar weinig veranderd in Toronto. De grote 'issues' zijn nog altijd hetzelfde als tien jaar geleden – niet in het minst het ontoereikende openbare vervoer! Net daarom is het jammer dat bij de heruitgave in 2021 het boek niet werd geüpdatet: nog altijd eindigt de geschiedenis met een erg hijgerige beschrijving van Rob Ford, de slechtste burgemeester die Toronto ooit had. Dat John Tory, die Ford in 2014 opvolgde (en in het boek al opduikt als 'a well-connected and polished lawyer, businessman, and Conservative Party political backroom advisor', p. 330), blijkbaar geen enkele kwestie kon oplossen, plaatst het beleid van Ford echter in een ander perspectief.

Weliswaar vermoed ik dat Levine niet veel te zeggen zou hebben over Tory: ik wees al op het gebrek aan inzichten. Liever dan zelf een standpunt in te nemen, haalt Levine andere commentatoren aan. Voor enkele hoofdstukken in het midden van het boek is journalist en tv-figuur Pierre Berton zijn favoriete commentator, later maakt John Lorinc ('one of the best writers on urban politics in the country') meermaals zijn opwachting. Het laatste woord is dan weer voor David Crombie, die van 1972 tot 1978 burgemeester van Toronto was. Ook op de kaft staat een quote van Crombie: volgens hem Levine leverde 'a triumph of historical storytelling' af. Was The Authorised Biography of a City misschien een betere titel geweest?

[James Pasternak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally a rich history of Toronto that is not afraid to editorialize, fill in with commentary and use the written word to tell the story of a great city. Some might think Toronto doesn’t have an exciting, interesting history but this is a book that tells the shared experience. These are the personalities, events and landmarks and decisions that built Toronto into Canada’s most populous city and the Goose that’s been laying the golden eggs. One might be tempted to calling this the miracle by the lake, but it sure comes close. And even if one doesn’t believe in miracles it’s hard to deny when they occur.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

What started off as history textbook stories cuts over to modern day Toronto is very interesting for me. As someone who tells other “I’m from Toronto”, but really only lived in the City off Toronto” in the past 6 years, this book captured a timeline of how everything came to be, with names of individuals so familiar that formed a lot of roads and public spaces in the city. I learned a lot about the city from this book and truly enjoyed the last 50+ pages of photos from the city archive.

[Madz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will say this book is a hard read and the author sprouts names of historical figures like it's his birth right. Regardless, I highly recommend picking up Toronto by Allan Levine.

It's a brilliant history of Toronto. Did you know in 1855 there was the Great Circus Riot? Or that the Spadina Expressway would have put Spadina and Bloor under a freeway? There are so many stories buried in the fabric of the city. Five Stars.

[Ed Scherrer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Irreverent takeaway:
Honest Ed Mirvish was circumcised by Al Jolson's father. When Mirvish revamped the Royal Alex Theater, he recalled his bris as his first brush with the entertainment industry.

[Martha]

some street geography/spelling errors

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good overview wth interesting anecdotes. I was disappointed that the paperback, published in 2021, did not include updates to the 2014 hardcover version.

[Julia Zingel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, at times dry.
I really enjoyed the history from the 18th and 19th and early 20th century. I want to dive deeper into this history.

[Matteo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Levine presents a solid account of Toronto's history: from aboriginal outpost to a mega-city (circa 2013) in the throes of grappling with a burgeoning "word-class" status. Overall, Levine provides a decent portrait of Toronto in any given decade or time period since its founding and allows the reader to get a sense of the city's history and the key individuals and moments that have shaped it. My only real gripe with Levine's account is his focus on "Old Toronto" almost exclusively until the city's amalgamation. As a resident of North York, I would have appreciated a bit more historical reflection on Greater/Metro Toronto through the decades, but perhaps that results in a different text. Also, certain historical moments spurred by international events (such as 9/11 or the Financial Crash of 2008-09 and the impact of these events on Toronto's civic life) were noticeably absent from Levine's history of Canada's biggest and most important city.

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toronto began life as a meeting place as its location made it suitable for trade routes to converge. When Lord Simcoe decided to make it a more permanent settlement it started again as a small village, and then it grew. Hundreds of years later it is a large, cosmopolitan city.

I picked this book up after hearing the author speak on the CBC. He told a story of clowns, and Orange men, and "Toronto the Good" took on a new face in my mind.

I finished because I live here. Learning more about the city I call home was interesting.

I would recommend this to Marc. He likes history and I'm sure he would enjoy learning more about our city.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Went back and forth between 3 and 4 stars. In places he gets a little overenthusiastic about things (I really didn't need to read pages gushing about Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman). But overall it's a solid overview of Toronto history. I really didn't know much at all about the early history of the city, so I learned a lot. Hence going ahead and giving it 4 stars.

[Nathan Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. All Torontonians should read this book.

[Bruce Harpham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to learn about the city I live in. Toronto has come such a long way!

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history of people with money or power in Toronto.

[Think-On-It]

If you'd like to know what I thought of this book, please contact me directly and I'd be happy to discuss it with you.

All the best,

- TB