Published in 2014 by heritage researcher and photographer Nick Russell, Victoria Then & Now: Postcards from the Past pairs vintage turn-of-the-century postcards with contemporary photographs to document the physical transformation of British Columbia’s capital city. The volume features side-by-side visual comparisons of prominent local landmarks alongside meticulous historical research detailing the changing streetscapes, businesses, and architecture of early Victoria. Beyond architectural changes, Russell digs into the personal micro-histories of the original senders and recipients inscribed on the cards, transforming a standard visual history into an intimate narrative of everyday human connection. A keen insight drawn from the text is how early postcards functioned as the social media and tourism marketing engines of their day; by intentionally packaging sanitized, picturesque views of colonial progress for cheap postal circulation, these historical artifacts actively manufactured a romanticized civic identity for an expanding Pacific Northwest