In this fifth volume in Oxford''s Illustrated History of Canada series, Patricia Roy and John Thompson present a compact narrative survey of British Columbia''s economic, political, and social history, generously illustrated with roughly 150 paintings, drawings, and maps that shed their own light on the province''s history. British Columbia, as we know it geographically and politically today, did not exist until 1858. The boundaries of the present-day province were defined in a piecemeal and haphazard manner, and are still disputed by the First Nations, who have never accepted the 1927 agreement between the federal and the provincial governments that defined the extent of their territories within the province. Historians can never entirely escape superimposing the tidy political map of contemporary British Columbia over an untidy geography, and an equally untidy history. Human conflict and human diversity mark British Columbia''s past. Based on current scholarship, this volume provides a detailed account of the multitude of experiences within British Columbia. British Columbia: Land of Promises continues the tradition of sound scholarship and easy readability of the previous volumes in Oxford''s Illustrated History of Canada series. Previous volumes were praised for being "richly illustrated, readable, detailed and opinionated" (London Free Press), and "attractive as individual volumes to those who want an introduction to a particular region, and as part of a series to those who are looking for a new, general history of Canada."(Quill and Quire)