In the small Bosnian town of Visegrad the stone bridge of the novel`s title, built in the sixteenth century on the instruction of a grand vezir, bears witness to three centuries of conflict. Visegrad has long been a bone of contention between the Ottoman & Austro-Hungarian Empires, but the bridge survives unscathed until 1914, when the collision of forces in the Balkans triggers the outbreak of World War I. The bridge spans generations, nationalities & creeds, silent testament to the lives played out on it. Radisav, a workman, tried to hinder its construction & is impaled alive on its highest point; beautiful Fata leaps from its parapet to escape an arranged marriage; Milan, inveterate gamble, risks all in one last game on it. With humour & compassion, Andric chronicles the lives of Catholics, Moselms & Orthodox Christians unable to reconcile their disparate loyalties.