Adnan Giz (1914-1989) was an intellectual who pursued his writing career, which began in 1935, until the end of his life in newspapers such as Cumhuriyet, Tasvir-i Efkâr, Akşam, Vakit, Son Posta, and Tasvir, and in magazines including Yedi Gün, Resimli Ay, Yeni Mecmua, Çınaraltı, Tarih Dünyası, Resimli Tarih Mecmuası, 20. Asır, İstanbul Sanayi Odası Dergisi, Belgelerle Türk Tarihi, Hayat Tarih Mecmuası, Hayat Mecmuası, Hayat Tarih ve Edebiyat Mecmuası, Tarih ve Toplum, and Yıllarboyu Tarih. He penned hundreds of articles on industrial history, the history of press advertising, Ottoman history (portraits of sultans, princes, and grand viziers), Turkish history, European history, the "Esâfil-i Şark" (The Wretches of the East) group, and Istanbul. These articles will be compiled into books within their thematic unity and added to the Büyüyenay library.

The second book in our Adnan Giz Complete Works series: The Story of a Community Established to Laugh: Esâfil-i Şark. The intriguing story of the Esâfil-i Şark community, which brought together many intellectuals in the first half of the last century, was serialized in Hayat Mecmuası, one of the leading magazines of the time, in the summer of 1977. This series of articles, written by Adnan Giz after interviewing the last surviving members of the community or their relatives, was published in seven parts, starting from the 21st issue of the magazine dated May 19, 1977. The author's friend, Midhat Sertoğlu, also continued with his own memories of the community in five parts, starting from the 28th issue dated July 7, 1977. This long serialization concluded with Adnan Giz's article titled "When Mud Cevdet Became 'Türabizade Cevdet Beyefendi'" in the 33rd issue of the magazine dated August 11, 1977.

Having formed friendships with some of the members of Esâfil-i Şark during his university years, Adnan Giz met many times with names such as Mükrimin Halil Yinanç, Nazmi Acar, İbnülemin Mahmud Kemal, Orhan Seyfi Orhon, Yusuf Ziya Ortaç, and Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel, finding the opportunity to get to know them closely during these meetings. This serialized work, now compiled into a book, is a product of these encounters. The work brings together the entire roster of the Esâfil-i Şark community—a name they were humorously dubbed—comprised of dozens of figures, some from the world of culture, art, literature, history, and theater, and others from the world of politics.