Synopses & Reviews
Set in the town of Travnik, Bosnian Chronicle presents the struggle for supremacy in a region that stubbornly refuses to submit to any outsider. The era is Napoleonic and the novel, both in its historical scope and psychological subtlety, Tolstoyan. In its portrayal of conflict and fierce ethnic loyalties, the story is also eerily relevant. Ottoman viziers, French consuls, and Austrian plenipotentiaries are consumed by an endless game of diplomacy and double-dealing: expansive and courtly face-to-face, brooding and scheming behind closed doors. As they have for centuries, the Bosnians themselves observe and endure the machinations of greater powers that vie, futilely, to absorb them. Ivo Andric's masterwork is imbued with the richness and complexity of a region that has brought so much tragedy to our century and known so little peace.
Review
Once again, the story he is telling casts light on the dark path up which life so often throws us.” The New York Times Book Review
Rich with humanity and the humor that comes with wisdom.” Library Journal
About the Author
Ivo Andric was born in Travnik in 1892 and as a student was imprisoned for his part in fighting for Bosnian independence from the Austrian Empire. Placed under house arrest during the Nazi occupation of the former Yugoslavia, he devoted himself to writing the Bosnian trilogy, of which Bosnian Chronicle is the first volume. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961.