The Master And Margarita

‘Bulgakov is one of the greatest Russian writers,perhapsthegreatest’Independent

Written in secret during the darkest days of Stalin’s reign,The Masterand Margaritabecame an overnight literary phenomenon when it wasfinally published it, signalling artistic freedom for Russians everywhere.Bulgakov’s carnivalesque satire of Soviet life describes how the Devil,trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and intoMoscow one Spring afternoon. Brimming with magic and incident, it is full ofimaginary, historical, terrifying and wonderful characters, from witches, poetsand Biblical tyrants to the beautiful, courageous Margarita, who will do anythingto save the imprisoned writer she love

About the Author

Mikhail Bulgakov was born in Kiev in May 1891. Hissympathetic portrayal of White characters in his stories, in the plays The Daysof the Turbins (The White Guard), which enjoyed great success at the MoscowArts Theatre in 1926, and Flight (1927), and his satirical treatment of theofficials of the New Economic Plan, led to growing criticism, which becameviolent after the play The Purple Island. He also wrote a brilliant biographyof his literary hero, Jean-Baptiste Molire, but The Master and Margarita isgenerally considered his masterpiece. Fame, at home and abroad, was not to comeuntil a quarter of a century after his death at Moscow in 1940.

Larissa Volokhonsky, along with her husband Richard Pevear, has translatedworks by Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Gogol, Bulgakov and Pasternak. They bothwere twice awarded the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize (forDostoevsky’sThe Brothers Karamazovand Tolstoy’sAnnaKarenina). They are married and live in France.

Richard Pevear, along with his wife Larissa Volokhonsky, has translatedworks by Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Gogol, Bulgakov and Pasternak. They bothwere twice awarded the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize (forDostoevsky’sThe Brothers Karamazovand Tolstoy’sAnnaKarenina). They are married and live in France.