According to Walter D. Young in BC Studies, "Ian Smith... has written and illustrated, largely with his own photographs, a book that conveys with commendable restraint the mystery and the majesty of a landscape still largely unexplored by the recreational traveller" in The Unknown Island "...And he does so with the keen eye of a naturalist and, as far as I can tell, with the accuracy of one. But he is clearly not writing for the expert. The descriptions are simple, at times to the point of tedium and on occasion needlessly repetitive, but for the most part entirely satisfying."

Author of:

The Unknown Island (J.J. Douglas, 1973). Also published as Vancouver Island: The Unknown Wilderness (University of Washington Press).

[BCBW 2003] "History of Vancouver Island"

Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
The Unknown Island