Lumsden recruited and commanded this force at various points in his career beginning in 1846. The book covers Lumsden's background and education, as well as his military career and diplomatic missions. The three appendices consist of unpublished writings by Harry Lumsden. This includes a section of notes entitled "Frontier Thoughts and Frontier Requirements" that covers all aspects of recruiting and mentoring leaders. An essay entitled "Some Notes on Field Sports in Afghanistan" dealing with falconry, hunting and related subjects. A few pages recalling his March from Peshawar to Jalalabad in 1842. The book contains drawings and photographs, and a folding map of the Afghan border interspersed with the route from Kandahar to Herat. It contains. Peter Stark Ramsden was also a prominent soldier in the Indian Army. He accompanied his brother on the Kandahar Mission in 1857-1858, and in the 1880s commanded the British-Indian side of the Joint Boundary Commission formed with Russia to define Afghanistan's northern border.