The Siege
- 6 Dec 2018
- 9781786893949
- £9.99
- 336 pp
- 129×198mm
- 19 Mar 2009
- 9781847675545
- £7.99
- 336 pp
In a few words
A vivid historical novel set in the fifteenth century, by the winner of the Man Booker International Prize
In a few words
A vivid historical novel set in the fifteenth century, by the winner of the Man Booker International Prize
The Siege is a compelling tale of the savagery and uncertainty of war, and a brilliant historical novel by one of the world's greatest living writers
Simon Sebag Montefiore
Great books, books that last, are shape-shifting books. The Siege is about what it is about – a siege in the fifteenth century. It is also a universal evocation of human violence
The Siege is a compelling tale of the savagery and uncertainty of war, and a brilliant historical novel by one of the world's greatest living writers
A rallying cry to people besieged by the forces of tyranny.
Alice Fordham
The TimesMore about
the book
It is the fifteenth century and war looms. The people of Albania have refused to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire and they know their fate is sealed. As they take refuge in a fortress in the mountains, the army arrives and prepares to lay siege to the Christian citadel.
More about
the book
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 balance, from the Pasha himself to the technicians, artillerymen, astrologer, blind poet and harem of women that accompany him.
Brilliantly vivid, as insightful as it is compelling, The Siege is an unforgettable account of the clash of two great civilisations. As a portrait of war, it resonates across the centuries and confirms Ismail Kadare as one of our most significant writers.
A rallying cry to people besieged by the forces of tyranny
Alice Fordham
The TimesThe Siege is more relevant and powerful than ever . . . Kadare's early novel is stunning. The full panoply of the Ottoman's multi-ethnic empire is vividly rendered
Heather Mcrobie
Daily TelgraphHis fiction offers invaluable insights into life under tyranny - his historical allegories point both to the grand themes and small details that make up life in a restrictive environment. He is a great writer, by any nation's standards
Ben Naparstek
Financial TimesA tale steeped in blood, a snapshot of a centuries-long conflict, but at the same time Kadare's realism and lively sense of irony give it a modern twist
Adam Lively
Sunday TimesOne of the most important voices in literature today.
Alan Chadwick
MetroA tale steeped in blood, a snapshot of a centuries-long conflict, but at the same time Kadare's realism and lively sense of irony give it a modern twist.
Adam Lively
Sunday TimesThe urgent gestures towards something that's not quite said somehow make the story linger in the mind long after the regime in which The Siege was written went the way of the empire it dreams back to life.
Christopher Taylor
GuardianHis fiction offers invaluable insights into life under tyranny - his historical allegories point both to the grand themes and small details that make up life in a restrictive environment. He is a great writer, by any nation's standards.
Ben Naparstek
Financial Times
Ismail Kadare
View profileBorn in 1936, Ismail Kadare was Albania’s best-known poet and novelist. Translations of his novels have appeared in more than forty countries. In 2005, he won the inaugural Man Booker International Prize for ‘a body of work written by an author who has had a truly global impact’. He is the recipient of the highly prestigious 2009 Principe de Asturias de las Letras in Spain. He died in 2024, aged 88.
David Bellos, Director of the Program in Translation at Princeton University, is also the translator of Georges Perec’s Life A User’s Manual and a winner of the Goncourt Prize for biography. He has translated seven of Ismail Kadare’s novels, and in 2005 was awarded the Man Booker International Prize for his translations of Kadare’s work.
Ismail Kadare
View profileBorn in 1936, Ismail Kadare was Albania’s best-known poet and novelist. Translations of his novels have appeared in more than forty countries. In 2005, he won the inaugural Man Booker International Prize for ‘a body of work written by an author who has had a truly global impact’. He is the recipient of the highly prestigious 2009 Principe de Asturias de las Letras in Spain. He died in 2024, aged 88.
David Bellos, Director of the Program in Translation at Princeton University, is also the translator of Georges Perec’s Life A User’s Manual and a winner of the Goncourt Prize for biography. He has translated seven of Ismail Kadare’s novels, and in 2005 was awarded the Man Booker International Prize for his translations of Kadare’s work.
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We’re very sorry to hear of the passing of Ismail Kadare. “ A giant of Albanian literature ”, as the Guardian obituary puts it, Kadare’s writing career began under the dictator Enver Hoxha, and his books quickly brought him international acclaim. He spent much of his
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