The Master and Margarita

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Nothing in the whole of literature compares with ‘The Master and Margarita’. One spring afternoon, the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and into Moscow.

Mikhail Bulgakov’s fantastical, funny, and devastating satire of Soviet life combines two distinct yet interwoven parts, one set in contemporary Moscow, the other in ancient Jerusalem, each brimming with historical, imaginary, frightful, and wonderful characters.

Written during the darkest days of Stalin’s reign, and finally published in 1966 and 1967, ‘The Master and Margarita’ became a literary phenomenon, signaling artistic and spiritual freedom for Russians everywhere.

Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) was born and educated in Kiev where he graduated as a doctor in 1916. He rapidly abandoned medicine to write some of the greatest Russian literature of this century.