The Lives of Lake Ontario

A history of using and abusing Lake Ontario.

Lake Ontario has materially enabled and enriched the societies that have crowded its edges, from fertile agriculture landscapes to energy production systems to sprawling cities. *The Lives of Lake Ontario *examines the myriad ways Canada and the United States have used and abused this remarkably resilient and uniquely vulnerable resource.

Daniel Macfarlane is associate professor in the School of Environment, Geography, and Sustainability at Western Michigan University and the author of Natural Allies: Environment, Energy, and the History of US-Canada Relations.

Daniel Macfarlane is associate professor in the School of Environment, Geography, and Sustainability at Western Michigan University and the author of Natural Allies: Environment, Energy, and the History of US-Canada Relations.

"A deeply researched, authoritative account of the physical phenomena that formed and continue to shape the fourteenth-largest lake in the world. Beyond his ability to distill an abundance of complex scientific detail into crisp, digestible prose, [MacFarlane] truly shines in elucidating the reciprocal relationship between the lake and the people surrounding it." Literary Review of Canada

"MacFarlane’s contribution provides a space to think across geographical, technical, social, cultural, and political landscapes. A comprehensive, insightful environmental history of Lake Ontario." NiCHE: Network in Canadian History & Environment

“Despite some progress, the mistreatment of Lake Ontario over the last two centuries continues to undermine its ecological health and role as a key fish and wildlife habitat. The Lives of Lake Ontario advances our understanding of a Great Lake that is often trivialized, building blocks of history and science into a fascinating whole.” Dave Dempsey, author of Great Lakes for Sale

“Engaging and accessible, The Lives of Lake Ontario fills gaps in our knowledge of lakefront geographies by considering the lake itself as an organizing principle. This re-centering of key regional features generates insights into the economic and environmental history of the region that have been overlooked by land-oriented studies, giving water its due in the history of this watery centre of the continent.” Jennifer Bonnell, author of Reclaiming the Don: An Environmental History of Toronto’s Don River Valley