this "father of the croatian novel" (and modern national literature) is at his best in his mass cecildemillean scenes and poetic description of oppressed croatian peasantry, nobility struggling against foreign rule (venetians, austrians/germans and hungarians) and romanticised period from the 15th to the 18th century. it has become a commonplace phrase that "šenoa created the croatian reading public", especially by writing in a popular style.