Victoria and Southern Vancouver Island

Sidney Allinson is a Victoria-based communications consultant, Canadian
news correspondent for Britain’s The Army Quarterly and Defence, and
author of The Bantams: The Untold Story of World War I.

These two slim but comprehensive books by Chris Cheadle, himself a
resident of Vancouver Island, feature lush photographs of the region’s
natural and manmade attractions. Victoria could be a model for tourism
promotion, with its insightful commentary and photos that bear out a
remark made in 1843 by James Douglas, one of Victoria’s first
settlers: “The place appears a perfect Eden.” Historic homes, pretty
streets, flowers displays, seascapes, beaches, and maritime ecology are
among the scenes captured in Cheadle’s superb photos. Those in A
Portrait of Vancouver Island depict everything from breathtaking views
of forests, ocean shores, and snow-capped mountains to relics of First
Nations’ ancient villages.

Cheadle’s thoughtful text makes it clear that if this magnificent
region is to be preserved for future generations, an emphasis on
conservation will be essential.