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."