The memoir gives an account of Mackay's career in the Scottish Office from 1963 to 1995, with secondments to the Manpower Services Commission in the Department for Employment, London, 1983-86, and his public appointments and other professional work after 1995. Subjects covered include the relationship between St Andrews House and Westminster and Whitehall prior to devolution; civil service recruitment; working relationships with politicians including George Willis, Willie Ross, Dick Mabon, Gordon Campbell, and Malcolm Rifkind; and Mackay's work as Commissioner for the Northern Lighthouse Board, 1999-2006.

The memoir also contains detailed personal reminiscences, including on Mackay's childhood and education in Glasgow during the 1940s and 1950s, student days at St Andrews University, 1958-1962, and domestic and social life in Edinburgh from the 1960s to the 2000s.