Albert Fytche was an Indian Army officer who served as Chief Commissioner for Burma (now Myanmar) between 1867 and 1871. This book serves partly as an autobiography of his career in India and in Burma as well as a history of the latter country. During his tenure as Commissioner, Fytche travelled from the British capital of Lower Burma, Rangoon (now Yangon) to the court of the Burmese king, Mindon Min, at Mandalay and gained much information about the country and its people, cultures, resources and natural history.
Fytche was a cousin of the Poet Laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and dedicated this book to him.