Written by Burton's niece who, on the title-page, tells us, "Written ... with the authority and approval of the Burton family" this small book challenged much that Isabella Burton wrote in her biography, and upset many of her relatives. Reviews ranged from "scarce a page is without some pulsation of that fiery life whose record has now been so fitly written" to "seems, in the main, satisfactory".
The author's father, Sir Henry W. Stisted, served as Provisional Lieutenant Governor of Ontario at Confederation, and later commanded the British troops at Quebec.