Patricia Roy and John Herd Thompson’s book on B.C. closes with, “All you have to do is wake up in B.C. to realize how lucky you are.” This is just as well because, as the authors entertainingly document, the staggering variations in B.C.’s economy and the colourful doings of its politicians over the past century and a half have often left the populace with little more than scenic beauty and mild climate to appreciate.

British Columbia is the fifth in Oxford’s splendid Illustrated History of Canada series. Previous volumes have covered provinces (Ontario) and regions (Atlantic Canada, the Prairies, and the North). British Columbia is both, the Rocky Mountains forming a barrier that has only recently been effectively breached. Add to this the rugged nature of much of the interior landscape and you have a province that is as diverse as it is distinct.

At just under 200 pages of richly illustrated text, the book cannot give more than an overview of B.C.’s complex history, but it is a very good overview. All the colourful characters, from Amor de Cosmos to Bill Vander Zalm, are here, and there are some perspectives that are not included in many other history books, such as the idea that the early history of contact with the province’s native peoples was much more violent than the common myth suggests.

As with the other volumes, the illustrations are a comprehensive and thoughtfully chosen collection of photographs and cartoons. Where Roy and Thompson most excel is in the captions, which take the trouble to outline the history and significance of the individual images. For those who wish to delve more deeply into B.C.’s past, there are chapter notes and a detailed list for further reading, but British Columbia holds its own as a useful and accessible one-volume history of the province and a worthy addition to the larger collection.