The intriguing question “What happened after the fugitive slaves reached Canada?” is ably answered by three writers who are specialists in Underground Railroad history. Their research, which was originally undertaken for an exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum called “Next Stop, Freedom,” reveals aspects of life in Victorian Toronto that will surprise many.

The story begins in the 1790s when Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe tried and failed to abolish slavery in Upper Canada. But by 1833, when Britain abolished slavery in all her colonies, Toronto had become a strongly abolitionist city with many agencies dedicated to helping fugitives establish themselves. The authors give a brief summary of the ingenious methods slaves used to escape on the Underground Railroad but the book’s main focus is on their lives once they reached freedom.

Many arrived with valuable skills learned on the plantations and were able to set themselves up in business. For example, the first cab company in Toronto was started by Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, fugitive slaves from Kentucky. Children of the original fugitives became newspaper editors, doctors, and politicians. The ongoing narrative shows how the black community quickly developed a significant presence in Toronto. Sidebars featuring capsule biographies as well as copious archival photographs and steel engravings give a strong sense of time and place and also personalize the social history.

The writing style is dry and dispassionate. No attempt is made to shape what is naturally dramatic material into an exciting story that would draw in young readers. But the material is well organized and presented in a clear, straightforward manner that makes it accessible to those already interested. The index and suggestions for further reading make the book particularly useful for teachers and students. This book works well both as a detailed account of black history in the Toronto area and as a social history of the city from a hitherto little-known point of view.