Forging a Consensus: Historical Essays on Toronto

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

Here are eleven scholarly essays, written primarily by Toronto-based academics teaching and/or studying at the University of Toronto and/or York University. Included are such high profile writers on Toronto’s history as J.M.S. Careless (who reports on Toronto’s semi-centennial celebrations of 1884) and James Lemon (who surveys the broad sprawling topic of “Toronto as a city that works”). This publication is one of two “official” publications sponsored by the City of Toronto Sesquicentennial Board (they hold the copyrights); the other was Toronto in Art, published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside (CBRA 1983, entry 2108).

Forging a Consensus covers a wide variety of topics, all reflecting serious and original research: Toronto society and politics in 1834, Toronto Orangemen, provincial politics in nineteenth century Toronto, and civic populism. Outstanding themes also include the evolution of the Board of Control in the political structure, the police force, and the Toronto Transit Commission; another interesting chapter is devoted to planning for commercial office buildings. Extensive bibliographic footnotes are attached to each chapter, and there is even an index. This is a first-rate contribution to urban history studies in Canada.