From Ismail Kadare, winner of the inaugural Man Booker International Prize -a novelist in the class of Coetzee, Pamuk, Marquez, and Rushdie-the stunning new translation of one of his major works. In the early fifteenth century, as winter falls away, the people of Albania know that their fate is sealed. They have refused to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire, and war is now inevitable. Soon enough, dust kicked up by Turkish horses is spotted from a citadel. Brightly coloured banners, hastily constructed minarets, and tens of thousands of men fill the plain below. From this moment on, the world is waiting to hear that the fortress has fallen. The Siege tells the enthralling story of the weeks and months that follow -of the exhilaration and despair of the battlefield, the constantly shifting strategies of war, and those whose lives are held in the balance, from the Pasha himself to the artillerymen, astrologer, blind poet, and harem of women who accompany him. "Believe me," the general said. "I've taken part in many sieges but this," he waved towards the castle walls, "is where the most fearful carnage of our times will take place. And you surely know as well as I do that great massacres always give birth to great books. You really do have an opportunity to write a thundering chronicle redolent with pitch and blood, and it will be utterly different from the graceful whines composed at the fireside by squealers who never went to war." Brilliantly vivid, as insightful as it is compelling, The Siege is an unforgettable account of the clash of two great civilisations, and a portrait of war that will resonate across the centuries.

伊斯梅尔•卡达莱（1936— ）

阿尔巴尼亚当代最著名的作家和诗人，1936年出生于阿尔巴尼亚南部山城吉诺卡斯特，1954年以诗集《青春的热忱》初登文坛，随后转向小说创作，其作品迄今已在四十多个国家出版。代表作有《亡军的将领》《破碎的四月》《梦幻宫殿》《金字塔》等，在国际上广受好评。评论家称赞他的作品“其诗意的散文和叙事的灵巧，堪称炉火纯青”。曾荣获多个知名国际文学奖项，包括2005年布克国际文学奖、2009年西班牙阿斯图里亚斯亲王奖，以及2015年以色列耶路撒冷文学奖等。