Bassett received most of her education at home from governesses, although when she was 17 she attended the Church of England Girls' Grammar School for twelve weeks.

She assisted him in organising the 1914 Melbourne conference of the British Association for the Advancement of Science where she met renowned scientists, among them being her future brother-in-law, Anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski.

[1] Even though Basset's mother was did not encourage degree courses for girls, in her early twenties she decided to attend history lectures at the university due to her immense interest in the subject, particularly those of Ernest Scott.

In London, she worked alongside Sir Henry Barraclough, who was the honorary lieutenant colonel in charge of Australian munitions workers in both England and France.

[2] However, she did maintain an active member of the Catalysts, a society of professional women, for over sixty years where she wrote some of her most vigorous and evocative writing.

This book has been praised as "combining diligent research, intelligent handling of historical evidence, and a prose style that is clear and harmonious.