The Last Days of Pompeii
Bulwer-Lytton reached his height of popularity with the publication of "England and the English", and "Godolphin" (1833). This was followed by "The Pilgrims of the Rhine" (1834), "The Last Days of Pompeii" (1834), "Rienzi, Last of the Roman Tribunes" about Cola di Rienzo (1835), "Ernest Maltravers; or, The Eleusinia" (1837), "Alice; or, The Mysteries" (1838), "Leila; or, The Siege of Granada" (1838), and "Harold, the Last of the Saxons" (1848). "The Last Days of Pompeii" was inspired by Karl Briullov's painting "The Last Day of Pompeii", which Bulwer-Lytton saw in Milan.