Barbara Toy followed the Mediterranean coastline of North Africa, travelling through what was then French Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, to Cyprus, then down through Lebanon, Syria and then through Jordan to Iraq. While in Iraq she visited several archaeological sites, including in May 1951 Sir Max Mallowan's excavations at Nimrud where his wife Agatha Christie was helping with processing the finds. The work on the site had just finished, and the finds for that season included the stele of King Assur-nasir-pal II. Her journey home is not described in the book, although in her second book "A Fool in the
British Institute for the Study of Iraq but recently revised. On 12 December 2007 the organization's name was changed to The British Institute for the Study of Iraq. It also broadened it scope to promoting Iraqi cultural heritage and engaging in partnerships and collaborations with Iraqi archaeologists. Since the 1990s it has also funded Iraqi students studying in Britain. It helped in the creation of the Basra Museum opened in 2016. In 2011 the BISI sold one third of its collection of Nimrud Ivories, discovered between 1949 and 1963 in excavations led by Sir Max Mallowan, to the British Museum for £1.17million. Another third was donated to