he frontispiece is an engraved portrait of Tipu, with smoke rising from his capital, Seringapatam, in the background. He wears a fine muslin jama, and characteristic broad, flat turban. The source is described as 'an original Drawing in the Possession of the Marquis Wellesley'. A related portrait, now at the `Darya Daulat palace, Seringapatam, was given to the Government of India in November 1956, by the then Duke of Wellington, and is now displayed at the Darya Daulat, Seringapatam.

In his Introduction, Beatson records: 'I hesitated after my arrival from India, to send to the Press the following sheets, upon which I had been engaged during the voyage;…..erroneous opinions had been formed; military operations had not been sufficiently detailed; and few particulars had been recorded of the siege, the most brilliant and important that ever was carried on in that quarter of the globe.' The Narrative, to which the Marquis Wellesley gave every assistance and encouragement, was 'partly the result of my own observations and in part composed from the most authentic material. Beatson then ordered his chapters, and prepared a Prospectus of Table of Contents, seeking the Governor General's approval before completing the manuscript, with 'interesting anecdotes' contributed by his fellow passenger, Henry Wellesley, on the voyage home. Beatson concludes 'I have spared no labour to render it as faithful and impartial a record as can possibly be given.'

The Appendices contain much interesting material: copies of correspondence between Tipu and the French in 1798, and from Napoleon Bonaparte to Tipu; An Abstract and return of the British Army in 1799; correspondence between Tipu and Lord Harris; a translation of six of Tipu's dreams, and Major Allan's Account of his Interview with the Princes at Seringapatam and of finding the Body of the late Tippoo Sultaun.