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 and 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 and creeds, silent testament to the lives played out on it. Radisav, a workman, tried to hinder its construction and 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 and compassion, Andric chronicles the lives of Catholics, Moselms and Orthodox Christians unable to reconcile their disparate loyalties.

伊沃·安德裏奇(1892—1975)，前南斯拉夫文學大師，諾貝爾文學奬得主。小說傢、詩人、散文傢、遊記作傢、文學批評傢。

一戰時參加愛國運動而被捕入獄，慘遭流放，在此期間目睹並經曆瞭種種苦難，獲釋後任職高級外交官。二戰時期拒絕與法西斯閤作，寫下構思巧妙的史詩代錶作“波斯尼亞三部麯”——《德裏納河上的橋》《薩拉熱窩女人》《特拉夫尼剋紀事》。

國傢解放後，擔任南斯拉夫作協主席，創作瞭多部極具特色的中短篇小說。曾獲南斯拉夫作傢協會奬和一級人民勛章。

1961年，因“以史詩般的氣魄從你的祖囯的曆史中找到瞭主題並且描繪瞭人類的命運”，成為第1位榮獲諾貝爾文學奬的巴爾乾地區作傢。