Captains and the Kings belongs to the tradition of the French romanfleuve and particularly to the genre of the dynastic saga; the term saga having been made fashionable during the time of Caldwell's youth by John Galsworthy in his Forsyte Saga (1906-1922). After vicissitudes of popularity, the dynastic saga is said to have been revitalized by Angus Wilson in No Laughing Matter (1967), a mere half decade before the appearance of Captains and the Kings.