Who is the man behind the uniform when the most feared commander of the Ottoman Empire returns to the land he once fled?

In Omer Pasha Latas (Omerpaša Latas), published posthumously in 1977, Ivo Andrić delivers his final, mesmerizing historical novel. Set in nineteenth-century Sarajevo, the narrative follows the arrival of Omer Pasha, the seraskier (commander-in-chief) of the Sultan’s armies. Dispatched to bring the rebellious local landowners to heel, he executes his task with characteristic ferocity and efficiency, yet his presence unearths a deeper, personal reckoning.

Born Mihajlo Latas, a bright Serbian boy and subject of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Seraskier escaped his father's financial disgrace by fleeing to the Ottomans and converting to Islam. Now at the height of his power, he returns to the Balkans leading an army of misfits, adventurers, and outcasts. Despite his authority, he remains a stranger in every world he inhabits—forever isolated by his rank and his hidden past.

Andrić surrounds this enigmatic central figure with a vivid cast of "lost souls and hopeless dreamers," painting a portrait of a society sliding toward disaster. Combining the leisurely melancholy of Joseph Roth with the stark fatalism of an old ballad, this novel stands as a magnificent, atmospheric conclusion to the Nobel laureate's body of work.