The intercity electric railway industry in Canada, which began in 1887, ended in 1959. It was never a major industry but its role in the transition of Canadian land transportation from almost sole reliance on the steam railroad to dominance of the motor vehicle should not be overlooked. Professor Due's study, divided into two parts, presents first a general review of the development, characteristics, financial situation, and decline of the industry and then a brief history of each of the twenty-five companies which operated in the industry. (Canadian Studies in Economics, No. 18)

During the first two decades of this century, Sir William Mackenzie was one of Canada’s best known entrepreneurs. He spearheaded some of the largest and most technologically advanced projects undertaken in Canada during his lifetime – building enterprises that became the foundations for such major institutions as Canadian National Railways, Brascan, and the Toronto Transit Commission. He built a business empire that stretched from Montreal to British Columbia and to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil. It included gas, electric, telephone and transit utilities, railroads, hotels, and steamships as well as substantial coal mining, whaling, and timber interests. For a time Mackenzie also owned Canada's largest newspaper, La Presse. He accumulated an enormous personal fortune, but when he died in 1923, his estate was virtually bankrupt as a result of the dramatic collapse of his Canadian Northern Railway during the First World War. In an era when the entrepreneur has come to be seen as a media hero and when struggles about the role of state enterprise in the transportation and energy sectors consume public policy debate, it is ironic that Mackenzie is largely forgotten by all but a few historians and railway aficionados. He left no papers to guide biographers. After a decade of gathering and piecing together fragments from an immense array of sources, Rae Fleming has written the first biography of the man that the German press extolled as the “Railway King of Canada.” Mackenzie was wily, crafty, manipulative, and intimidating. Starting as a general contractor in Eldon Township in rural Ontario, he built a small fortune contracting for the CPR in the Selkirks in the 1880s and then moved on to bigger things. Along the way, he funded the first full-length documentary movie, was toasted by the House of Lords, received a knighthood from George V, and developed close friendships with the major politicians of his day, including Borden and Meighen. In a business biography intended as much for general readers as for a scholarly audience, Fleming offers a revisionist perspective on Mackenzie. He dispels the simplistic approach of those historians and journalists who have depicted Mackenzie and his partner Sir Donald Mann as melodramatic crooks who could have stepped out of the pages of Huckleberry Finn.

"In these two volumes, which replace the Reader's Guide to Canadian History, experts provide a select and critical guide to historical writing about pre- and post-Confederation Canada, with an emphasis on the most recent scholarship" -- Cover.

The Toronto Neighbourhoods bundle presents a collection of titles that provide fascinating insight into the history and development of Canada’s largest and most diverse city. Beginning with histories of Canada’s longest street and the early days of what was once called York (The Yonge Street Story, 1793-1860; A City in the Making; Opportunity Road), the titles in the bundle go on to examine the development of particular unique neighbourhoods that help give the city its character (Willowdale, Leaside). Finally, Mark Osbaldeston’s acclaimed, award-winning Unbuilt Toronto and Unbuilt Toronto 2 go beyond history and into the arena of speculation as the author details ambitious and possibly city-changing plans that never came to fruition. For lovers of Toronto, this collection is a bonanza of insights and facts. Includes A City in the Making Leaside Opportunity Road Unbuilt Toronto Unbuilt Toronto 2 Willowdale The Yonge Street Story, 1793-1860

Unbuilt Toronto explores the failed architectural dreams of Toronto. Delving into unfulfilled & largely forgotten visions for grand public buildings, landmark skyscrapers, roads & highways, transit systems, & sports & recreation venues, the authors outline such ambitious but ultimately unrealised schemes as St. Alban's Cathedral, the "Newark 2011" subway system, & a 1911 city plan that would have resulted in a Paris-by-the-Lake. Readers will lament the loss of some projects (such as the planned construction boom for the Olympics), be thankful for the loss of others ("City Hall was supposed to look like that?!?"), & marvel at the downtown that could have been (with underground roads & walkways in the sky). With an eye on the future as well as the past, the author takes stock of Toronto's status quo in 2008 & offers some bold predictions on the city's architectural future.

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.

Regional disparities in income have been an important part of the growth of experience of most nation states. Canada is no exception. In a large country, thinly populated and having a wide diversity of resources, cultures, and locational advantages, it is only natural to expect the existence of dissimilar levels of economic performance. In fact, just this diversity of physical and human backgrounds has often provided the primary thrust for variations in natural economic growth. If, therefore, a better understanding of national development is to be obtained, some attention to the growth experience of the subnational units is imperative. This study aims at widening our understanding of the Canadian growth process by focusing on the relationship between regional and national changes since the last decade of the nineteenth century.