No page of history is more crowded with thrilling interest than that which records the uprising of the Hungarians, in 1848-49, in a gallant attempt to recover their constitutional rights. The events of that stirring period, even when related by the sober pen of the annalist, read more like romance t...

No page of history is more crowded with thrilling interest than that which records the uprising of the Hungarians, in 1848-49, in a gallant attempt to recover their constitutional rights. The events of that stirring period, even when related by the sober pen of the annalist, read more like romance than reality; and thus they cannot fail to lend themselves admirably to the purposes of historical fiction. Maurus Jokai (1825 - 1904) was a Hungarian novelist who took part as a journalist in the revolution of 1848. He wrote about 200 novels, including Timar's Two Worlds, Black Diamonds, and The Romance of the Coming Century. He became the best-known man in Hungary in his day, for he was not only an author, but a financier, a statesman, and a journalist as well."