The Bridge over the River Kwai

This article is about the novel. For the film, see The Bridge on the River Kwai. For the real bridge, see Burma Railway § The bridge on the River Kwai.
The Bridge over the River Kwai
First edition (French)
AuthorPierre Boulle
Original titleLe Pont de la rivière Kwaï
LanguageFrench
GenreWar novel
PublisherJulliard
Publication date
1952
Publication placeFrance
Published in English
1954 (Vanguard Press)
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)

The Bridge over the River Kwai (French: Le Pont de la rivière Kwaï) is a novel by the French novelist Pierre Boulle, published in French in 1952 and English translation by Xan Fielding in 1954. The story is fictional but uses the construction of the Burma Railway, in 1942–1943, as its historical setting, and is partly based on Pierre Boulle's own life experience working in rubber plantations in Malaya and later working for allied forces in Singapore and French Indochina during the Second World War. The novel deals with the plight of World War II British prisoners of war forced by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) to build a bridge for the "Death Railway", so named because of the large number of prisoners and conscripts who died during its construction. The novel won France's Prix Sainte-Beuve in 1952.