The author of numerous popular novels, British author and poet Matilda Betham-Edwards (1836–1919) was also a dedicated Francophile. With books such as France of To-Day (1892), which describes contemporary French life to a British readership, she worked to promote a better understanding between the two nations. In recognition of her efforts, she was made Officier de l'Instruction Publique de France by the French government, and awarded several medals. In this autobiography, first published in 1898, Betham-Edwards recounts significant episodes of her life. She tells of her childhood and education, the publication of her first book in 1857, and her experiences as a female professional author, including meeting George Eliot and John Stuart Mill. Her travel narrative Through Spain to the Sahara (1868), and her editions of the writings of agriculturalist Arthur Young, are also reissued in this series.
