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First published in 1945, this is Bosnian author Ivo Andric´s saga of turbulent imperial forces played out through the fates of two men in a remote outpost of the Ottoman Empire.

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´The Apollo choices have been masterful. The list is thought-provoking, eye-opening, inspired and inspiring´ The Big Issue .

For as long as anyone can remember, the little café known as ´Lutvo´s´ has stood at the far end of the Travnik bazaar.
In the remote town of Travnik, the newly appointed French consul soon finds himself intriguing against his Austrian rival, whilst dealing with a colourful cast of Bosnian notables, Orthodox priests, Jewish merchanges and Muslim farmers.

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The wealth and variety of its fictional elements carry it so far beyond the confines of a straightforward novel, it cannot be limited to such a description. It puts one in mind of a collection of tales, but no collection of tales (not even A Thousand and One Nights) ever possessed such a unity and continuity of theme´ George Perec.

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Andric, Ivo
Ivan ´Ivo´ Andric (1892-1975) is the author of THE BRIDGE ON THE DRINA and other works. He was born to a Croat family in a small Bosnian town near Travnik in what was then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Schmidt, Michael
Michael Schmidt is the founder of Carcanet Press and the general editor of PN Review. He was until recently Professor of Poetry at the University of Glasgow. He has also been Writer in Residence at St John´s College, Cambridge.

Hawkesworth, Celia
Celia Hawkesworth is a renowned academic and translator of Serbo-Croat literature.

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