This Short History of British Columbia is designed to provide the average reader with a quick but accurate survey of the broad outline of British Columbia’s development. The emphasis in this book is on the political developments that shaped the province as it is today, subjects such as the meeting between First Nations and Europeans, immigration and settlement, economic activities like the fur trade, fishing and mining, and the attainment of provincial status. It explains the reasons for the boom that preceded the First World War and the depression that followed, including such issues as prohibition and women’s suffrage. The Depression, Social Credit, resource development, and more modern developments complete the account.

The idea for this series of short histories first arose in 1969 when the author moved to Nova Scotia. Being new to the province, and knowing very little about it, he went looking for a short history book which would provide an outline of the development of his newly adopted home. There was no such book. In 1973, he moved to Quebec, later to Ontario, and in neither place could he find a short and simple account of the provinces’ development. In 1975, he decided to write the sort of book he had been looking for, and what better place to start than with his native province of Manitoba. The result was the Short History of Manitoba. A new edition was published by Midtown in 2019. It is deliberately designed as an inexpensive pamphlet that can be read in a few hours.