Lake Ontario has profoundly influenced the historical evolution of North America. For centuries it has enabled and enriched the societies that crowd¬ed its edges, from fertile agricultural landscapes to energy production systems to sprawling cities. In The Lives of Lake Ontario Daniel Macfarlane details the lake’s relationship with the Indigenous nations, settler cultures, and modern countries that have occupied its shores. He examines the myriad ways Canada and the United States have used and abused this resource: through dams and canals, drinking water and sewage, trash and pollution, fish and foreign species, industry and manufacturing, urbanization and infrastructure, population growth and biodiversity loss. Serving as both bridge and buffer between the two countries, Lake Ontario came to host Canada’s largest megalopolis. Yet its transborder exploitation exacted a tremendous ecological cost, leading people to abandon the lake. Innovative regulations in the later twentieth century, such as the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreements, have partially improved Lake Ontario’s health. Despite signs that communities are reengaging with Lake Ontario, it remains the most degraded of the Great Lakes, with new and old problems alike exacerbated by climate change. The Lives of Lake Ontario demonstrates that this lake is both remarkably resilient and uniquely vulnerable.

New York Times Bestseller Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Award "Nimbly splices together history, science, reporting and personal experiences into a taut and cautiously hopeful narrative.… Egan’s book is bursting with life (and yes, death)." —Robert Moor, New York Times Book Review The Great Lakes—Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior—hold 20 percent of the world’s supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work, and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan’s compulsively readable portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes, blending the epic story of the lakes with an examination of the perils they face and the ways we can restore and preserve them for generations to come.

Formed by glaciers more than twelve thousand years ago, Lake Ontario has captivated nature lovers for generations. Unique among the Great Lakes for having once been connected to the sea, fossils from ocean life have been found near the lake's shores. Damage done to Lake Ontario's ecosystem from centuries of human activity was center stage in the fight to pass the Clean Water Act and the restoration that followed. From incredibly diverse bird migrations in the spring and fall to the squalls and lake effect snow in winter, each season offers a rich ecological tapestry. Author Susan P. Gateley charts the natural history of Lake Ontario from its ice age origins to the climate and habitat challenges it faces today.

Documents the stories of a number of sunken vessels on the United States territory in Lake Ontario, among them the steamer Ellsworth, the St. Peter, the Homer Warren, the schooner Etta Belle, the Coast Guard cable boat CG-56022, the schooner William Elgin, the Orcadian, the steamer Samuel F. Hodge, the W.Y. Emery, the British warship Ontario, the schooner C. Reeve, the Queen of the Lakes, the schooner Atlas, the Ocean Wave, the steamer Roberval, the U.S. Air Force C-45, the schooner Three Brothers, the steamship Nisbet Grammer, the steamship Bay State, the schooner Royal Albert, the sloop Washington, and the schooner Hartford. Appendices look at three particular locations: Ford Shoals, Mexico Bay, and the lake near Oswego.

Of all the struggles that took place along the border between the United States and the British provinces of Canada during the War of 1812, the one that lasted the longest was the crucial battle for control of Lake Ontario. Because the armies on both sides depended on it for transportation and supply, control of the lake was a key element in American invasion attempts and the defensive actions of the British. Lords of the Lake tells the story of the contest from the days of the incompetent Provincial Marine to the launch of the 104-gun ship St Lawrence, larger than Nelson's Victory. Robert Malcomson's absorbing narrative is readable, vivid, yet impeccable in its scholarship.

Since the late nineteenth century, Niagara Falls has been heavily engineered to generate energy behind a flowing façade designed to appeal to tourists. Fixing Niagara Falls reveals the technological feats and cross-border politics that facilitated the transformation of one of the most important natural sites in North America. Daniel Macfarlane shows how this natural wonder is essentially a tap: huge tunnels around the reconfigured Falls channel the waters of the Niagara River, which ebb and flow according to the tourism calendar. This book offers a unique interdisciplinary and transborder perspective on how the Niagara landscape embodies the power of technology and nature.

This is Ontario's story, a collective biography of her people, a history of her development as a province. Illustrated by Adrian Dingle, this refreshing study, with its emphasis on the personal, offers an enduring portrait of a province.