[1][2] From the Ashes is considered one of the "most notable" 100 books Simon and Schuster U.S and all its 31 international imprints has published between 1924-2024,[3] Thistle is a PhD candidate in the history program at York University, where he is working on theories of intergenerational, historic trauma, and survivance of road allowance Métis people.

His mother, Blanche Morissette, is Métis-Cree and was a member of the Park Valley road allowance community in Big River, Saskatchewan.

His undergraduate thesis is entitled: James Bay and Mattawa as an Interconnected Fur Trade Region: Illuminating Lake Timiskaming’s Historic Metis Community and was supervised by York historian Carolyn Podruchny.

[4][14][11][15] Thistle's historical research has used his own past and identity as a way to examine the position of Metis people and culture within Canadian society, particularly around the idea of inter-generational trauma.

[20] Along with Podruchny, Thistle conducted a series of site visits and interviews in northern Saskatchewan and his PhD thesis is entitled: Indigence, Invisibility, and Indifference: Metis Life in Road Allowances Communities on the Canadian Prairies.

[25] The memoir detailed his childhood, youth, and early adulthood, dealing with issues such as foster care, homelessness and addiction, and his quest for higher education that led ultimately to a professorship and love and emplacement.

Among the book's champions are noted psychologist Gabor Mate, NYT bestselling authors Emma Donoghue and Amanda Lindhout, and the creator of Housing First Sam Tsemberis.