Toronto: The Unknown City

Julie Rekai Rickerd is a Toronto-based broadcaster and public-relations
consultant.

Most guidebooks are geared to tourists visiting specific cities or
countries. Despite its obvious value to visitors to Toronto, this book
will capture the interest of locals as well.

Howard Ackler and Sarah Hood have produced a fascinating history of
“Hogtown,” “Toronto the Good,” “The City that Works,” or, as
Peter Ustinov called it, “New York run by the Swiss.” Their breezy,
conversational style takes the reader on a comprehensive tour of “the
world’s most multicultural city.” They have unearthed hundreds of
little-known facts and anecdotes about Canada’s largest metropolis.
Local lore and dishy gossip accompany well-researched advice regarding
Toronto’s architectural, dining, shopping, film, theatre, festival,
sports, and music scenes. Vintage and contemporary black-and-white
photographs illustrate the engrossing text.

The city’s must-see attractions are all listed and defined, but this
guide offers much more. It gives historical and cultural context to the
sights that both visitors and locals are unlikely to know about. It
explores off-the-beaten-track homes, buildings, and cemeteries and
explains their origins. It describes neighbourhoods as they once were
and as they appear now. Early residents of Toronto, celebrities from all
walks of life, and the city’s evolution are amusingly and lovingly
described.

Few guides report on a destination’s notorious homicide cases, its
past claim to be the “tabloid capital of the world,” its libraries
and archives, and its “shocking moments on stage.” This guide does
all that and more. Its city walks include strolls through Toronto’s
ravines and ethnic neighbourhoods as well as by hidden streams, street
art, urban wildlife, and hidden tunnels.

Toronto: The Unknown City is fun to read and will inspire both visitors
and locals to discover and appreciate this truly interesting, diverse,
and exciting city.