In 1849 he was mistakenly arrested in connection with the Petrashevsky case and spent several months in the prison of the Peter and Paul Fortress, but he was released and received his certification as kandidat in 1850.

Aside from some minor verses and translations, Danilevsky's first literary work was a series of stories of Ukrainian life and traditions, collected in 1854 in the book Slobozhane (Sloboda dwellers).

"[3] It was followed by Na Indiyu pri Petre (To India in Peter's day, 1880); Knyazhna Tarakanova (Princess Tarakanova, 1883), about the self-proclaimed daughter of Empress Elizabeth; Sozhzhennaya Moskva (Moscow destroyed by fire, 1886), about Napoleon's invasion in 1812; Cherny god (The black year, 1888), about Pugachev's Rebellion; and a series of short stories.

Though Danilevsky was popular in his day, Prince Mirsky says he was "looked down by the advanced and the literate," and calls his novels "derivative and second-rate.

"[4] However, Dan Ungurianu writes, "Despite their lack of conceptual and artistic integrity, Danilevsky's novels remain among the best works of historical fiction of the period.