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.

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.

Cultures and nationalities, East and West, merge and clash in a reading experience like no other. This exhilarating book of a lifetime was completed in 1945 and it won the 1961 Nobel Prize for Andric ... It leaps off the page through the characters and their exchanges with each other' Irish Times.