The first edition of Janicsárok végnapjai appeared forty-five years ago. It was immediately preceded by the great historical romance, Erdely aranykora (The Golden Age of Transylvania), and the still more famous novel of manners, Egy Magyar Nábob (A Hungarian Nabob), which Hungarians regard as, indisputably,
Jókai's masterpiece, while only a few months separate it from Kárpáthy Zoltán (Sultan Karpathy), the brilliant sequel to the Nabob. Thus it belongs to the author's best literary period.