The mysterious lapse of the Treaty of 1889 between the great Russian and
English companies is obscured in the shadows of the past. No historical
evidence exists that Secretary of State Seward was instrumental in
blocking the treaty, and parts of the narrative dealing therewith must
be regarded as purely fictitious. Otherwise Mr. Seward is presented
according to my most sincere interpretation of this profound though
lucid genius. The prickly international situations of the time, the
Sitka of 1867, and the various characters are as nearly true as can be
seen through the misty distance of sixty years.