The well-known nineteenth century Ottoman novelist, journalist,and “public intellectual” Ahmet Midhat Efendi mostly wrote fictions with contemporary settings, but there were a few exceptions. Of these, the majority were set in the later eighteenth century, during the reign of the first “modern reforming”sultan, Selim III. This paper considers two such works, Dunyaya Ikinci Gelis yahut Istanbul'da Neler Olmus (Rebirth; or, What Happened in Istanbul) and Yeniceriler (Janissaries). These novels are both romances and picaresques: They paint a vibrant image of everyday life in Istanbul, including its taverns and places of entertainment, as well as of remote corners of the Empire; at the same time they address the plight of unprotected women and orphans, and the corrosive effects of slavery (both male and female). Ahmet Midhat Efendi is known as both a modernizer and a defender of conservative social mores. These historical novels, set at the dawn of the Ottoman great age of reforms, provide an invaluable window into the analysis of an important late nineteenth century intellectual and publicist around interlocking questions of cultural authenticity and integrity, pervasive corruption, lack of economic growth, and the so-called “woman question.”