Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is home to some of the finest turn-of-the-century architecture in Canada.

Through Ward's wry, piercing and knowledgeable eye, we meet Francis Rattenbury, the flamboyant twenty-five-yearold designer of the opulent Parliament Buildings and Empress Hotel, whose career dissolved in scandal; Robert Dunsmuir, the tycoon who built an extravagant Scottish baronial castle; artist Emily Carr, premier Amor De Cosmos, and the Natives, missionaries and military men who made Victoria a city where cedar shakes, classical columns, pagoda roofs and heavenly spires jostle in a beautiful and contented ensemble.

Robin Ward was born in Glasgow in 1950, studied graphic design at the Glasgow School of Art, drew and wrote about Victorian buildings for the Glasgow Herald, and published three books on the buildings of Glasgow and Edinburgh. After travelling throughout Europe and Canada, he and his wife settled in Vancouver. He soon became a well-known local, drawing and writing his enormously popular weekly column, "Robin Ward's Vancouver," for the Vancouver Sun and working as an artist, writer, photographer, book designer and architecture critic. Author and illustrator of the bestselling Robin Ward's Vancouver, Robin Ward's Heritage West Coast and Echoes of Empire: Victoria and Its Remarkable Buildings, and co-author and photographer of Exploring Vancouver, Ward has won two City of Vancouver Heritage Awards and a Heritage Canada Achievement Award. He is a favourite guest on local radio and television, speaking on architecture and heritage issues.

Robin Ward's profile page