Discover Southern Ontario

Dean Tudor is a journalism professor at the Ryerson Polytechnical
Institute and founding editor of the CBRA.

There are nine sections in this book: Toronto, Ottawa, and seven “regions” — “Festival Country” (which does not include Stratford itself), Kingston to Quebec, Muskoka, South-eastern Ontario, Grey-Bruce, etc.). No illustrations are given, beyond dull sketch maps. Each area has a general description, followed by counties and then towns within. Each is further subdivided by such categories as “Attractions,” “Kids’ Stuff,” “Museums and Galleries,” “Shopping,” “Antiques, Arts and Crafts,” “Accommodation and Campsites,” “Dining,” “Sports,” and “Tourist Information.” Only highlights are noted for small areas. There are some errors and typos: page 115 records the American Revolution as 1775; siege is misspelled on page 205; and on page 99 “Guelph” is mentioned but the context is clearly “Cambridge.”

While the index covers only towns, it does locate them and is hence better to use than the table of contents. The large typeface is great for reading but adds to the size of the book — which is already awkwardly fat. Since the author intends to update it annually, why couldn’t the publisher put the book on thinner and cheaper stock?