"One may safely predict that this will be the most popular book of the season.... We have not space to point out a twentieth part of the passages that might be described as having a special interest. Moreover, though the book is, among other things, a repertory of curious occurrences and amusing anecdotes, it is much more remarkable as a book of sentiment and character, and a story of real life told with remarkable fulness."—The Guardian.
"A book which will greatly amuse the reader."—The Spectator.
"Much of what the author has to tell is worthy the telling, and is told with considerable ease and grace, and with a power to interest out of the common. He introduces us to the best of good company, and tells many excellently witty stories.... Whenever he is describing foreign life he is at his best; and nothing can exceed the beautiful pathos of the episodes in which his mother appears. Indeed, he has the gift of tenderness for all good women and brave men."—Daily Telegraph.
"This autobiography could not fail to be exceptionally interesting. There may be readers who will protest that the more minute details of daily life might have been abridged with advantage, but the aim of the book makes this elaborate treatment of the subject indispensable. The conscientious record of a mental development amid curious surroundings, would make these volumes valuable if not a single name of note were mentioned.... Even more interesting than the stories of people and things that are still remembered are the glimpses of a past which is quickly fading out of recollection."—The Standard.
"The book is unexceptionable on the score of taste.... It is an agreeable miscellany into which one may dip at random with the certainty of landing something entertaining, rather than an autobiography of the ordinary kind. The concluding chapter is full of a deep and tender pathos."—The Manchester Guardian.
"Mr. Hare's style is graceful and felicitous, and his life-history was well worth writing. The volumes simply teem with good things, and in a single article we can but skim the surface of the riches they contain. A word must also be said of the beauty and delicacy of the illustrations. Few living men dare brave criticism by giving us the story of their lives and promising more. But Mr. Hare is quite justified. He has produced a fascinating work, in some parts strange as any romance, and his reminiscences of great men are agreeable and interesting."—Birmingham Gazette.
"An inexhaustible storehouse of anecdote."—South-Western News.
"These volumes possess an almost unique interest because of the striking series of portraits we get in them, not so much of celebrities, of whom we often hear enough, but of 'originals' in private life.... They give us a truly remarkable picture of certain sections of European society, and, above all, introduce us to some singularly quaint types of human character."—Glasgow Herald.
"Brimful of anecdotes, this autobiography will yield plenty of entertainment. We should like to quote many a characteristic little tale, but must content ourselves by heartily recommending all who care for the pleasantest of pleasant gossip concerning famous people and places to procure these three volumes."—Publisher's Circular.