The Brige over the River Kwai (French: Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai) is a novel by Pierre Boulle, published in 1952. The story is fictional, but uses the construction of the Burma Railway, in 1942-43, as its historical setting. The novel deals with the plight of World War II Allied prisoners of war forced to build the 415 kilometer (258 mile) railway, by the Imperial Japanese Army. The novel won France's Prix Ste Beuve in 1952.