Most Popular Books by Mikhail Bulgakov

A masterful translation of one of the great novels of the 20th century Nothing in the whole of literature compares with The Master and Margarita. Full of pungency and wit, this luminous work is Bulgakov''s crowning achievement, skilfully blending magical and realistic elements, grotesque situations and major ethical concerns. Written during the darkest period of Stalin''s repressive reign and a devastating satire of Soviet life, it combines two distinct yet interwoven parts, one set in contemporary Moscow, the other in ancient Jerusalem, each brimming with incident and with historical, imaginary, frightful and wonderful characters. Although completed in 1940, The Master and Margarita was not published until 1966 when the first section appeared in the monthly magazine Moskva. Russians everywhere responded enthusiastically to the novel''s artistic and spiritual freedom and it was an immediate and enduring success. This new translation has been made from the complete and unabridged Russian text.

A Kyiv family is caught up in the Ukrainian War of Independence in this novel by the author of The Master and Margarita, drawing from his own life. Reds, Whites, German troops, and Ukrainian nationalists battle for control of the city of Kyiv as the war becomes more tumultuous in Mikhail Bulgakov''s debut novel, The White Guard. Drawing heavily from the author''s own experiences in Ukraine during the period of the Russian Civil War—he witnessed ten changes of government himself— The White Guard is told from alternating points of view and takes an unusual angle in the conflict between Russian Whites (with whom the Turbin family identify) and Ukrainian nationalists. It elegantly portrays the chaos of a civil war in which there is no good or evil, only loyalty to one''s friends, family, and convictions. First appearing in partial form in a Soviet-era literary journal, the story was turned into a play under the title The Days of the Turbins—a long-running hit that Stalin himself attended twenty times—yet was not published widely until decades after Bulgakov''s death.

Satan, Judas, a Soviet writer, and a talking black cat named Behemoth populate this satire, " a classic of twentieth-century fiction" ( The New York Times). In 1930s Moscow, Satan decides to pay the good people of the Soviet Union a visit. In old Jerusalem, the fateful meeting of Pilate and Yeshua and the murder of Judas in the garden of Gethsemane unfold. At the intersection of fantasy and realism, satire and unflinching emotional truths, Mikhail Bulgakov''s classic The Master and Margarita eloquently lampoons every aspect of Soviet life under Stalin''s regime, from politics to art to religion, while interrogating the complexities between good and evil, innocence and guilt, and freedom and oppression. Spanning from Moscow to Biblical Jerusalem, a vibrant cast of characters—a "magician" who is actually the devil in disguise, a giant cat, a witch, a fanged assassin—sow mayhem and madness wherever they go, mocking artists, intellectuals, and politicians alike. In and out of the fray weaves a man known only as the Master, a writer demoralized by government censorship, and his mysterious lover, Margarita. Burned in 1928 by the author and restarted in 1930, The Master and Margarita was Bulgakov''s last completed creative work before his death. It remained unpublished until 1966—and went on to become one of the most well-regarded works of Russian literature of the twentieth century, adapted or referenced in film, television, radio, comic strips, theater productions, music, and opera.

in Bulgakov''s allegorical masterpiece of Stalin’s regime the devil is making a personal appearance in Moscow. He is accompanied by various demons, including a naked girl and a huge black cat. When he leaves, the asylums are full and the forces of law and order are in disarray. Only the Master, a writer and a man devoted to truth, and Margarita, the woman he loves, can resist the devil’s onslaught. ‘Stunning, superb...Bulgakov is one of the greatest Russian writers, perhaps the greatest’ Independent ‘A masterpiece – a classic of twentieth-century fiction’ New York Times TRANSLATED BY MICHAEL GLENNY, INTRODUCED BY WILL SELF

Contains extensive selections from Bulgakov''s correspondence and diary, and from the diary of his wife Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova, translated from the Russian.

"Bulgakov''s strong point was his ability to amplify the roots of man''s dementia, the howls of political pandemonium . . . a lively collection." — The Washington Post Book World Mikhail Bulgakov''s Diaboliad and Other Stories, comprised of Diaboliad, No. 13–The Elpit Workers'' Commune, A Chinese Tale, and The Adventures of Chichikov, serves as an excellent introduction to this renowned Russian satirist and playwright''s work. Black comedy, biting social and political commentary, and Bulgakov''s unique narrative exuberance combine to tell the tales of labyrinthine post-Revolution bureaucracy; clashes between science, the intellectual class, and the state; and the high price to be paid for the promised utopian world of Communism in early Soviet Russia. Bulgakov''s signature eloquent skewering of the various shortcomings of the world around and within him can be found on every page, and horror and magic interweave in a constant dance of the absurd—a dance that would reach its highest point both stylistically and thematically in Bulgakov''s tour de force novel The Master and Margarita. "One of the most original voices of the twentieth century." — The Guardian, UK

The Heart of a Dog is a novella that blends science fiction with sharp social commentary. The story centers on a stray dog named Sharik, who is taken in by a scientist, Professor Preobrazhensky. The professor performs an experimental surgery on Sharik, transplanting human organs into the dog, which causes Sharik to transform into a human-like creature named Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov. Sharikov''s transformation and subsequent behavior serve as a biting satire of the Soviet attempt to create a new socialist citizen. Sharikov becomes a crude, vulgar, and opportunistic character, embodying the worst traits of humanity. The novella explores themes of identity, the ethics of scientific experimentation, and the clash between nature and nurture.

This selection from the diaries and letters of the Bulgakovs, mostly translated for the first time into English, provides an insightful glimpse into a fascinating period of Russian history and literature, telling the tragic tale of the fate of an artist under a totalitarian regime. The career of Mikhail Bulgakov, the author of Master and Margarita - now regarded as one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century literature - was characterized by a constant and largely unsuccessful struggle against state censorship. This suppression did not only apply to his art: in 1926 his personal diary was seized by the authorities. From then on he confined his thoughts to letters to his friends and family, as well as to public figures such as Stalin and his fellow Soviet writer Gorky, while also encouraging his wife Yelena to keep a diary, with many entries influenced or even dictated by him.

Part autobiography, part fiction, this early work by the author of The Master and Margarita shows a master at the dawn of his craft, and a nation divided by centuries of unequal progress. In 1916 a 25-year-old, newly qualified doctor named Mikhail Bulgakov was posted to the remote Russian countryside. He brought to his position a diploma and a complete lack of field experience. And the challenges he faced didn’t end there: he was assigned to cover a vast and sprawling territory that was as yet unvisited by modern conveniences such as the motor car, the telephone, and electric lights. The stories in A Country Doctor’s Notebook are based on this two-year window in the life of the great modernist. Bulgakov candidly speaks of his own feelings of inadequacy, and warmly and wittily conjures episodes such as peasants applying medicine to their outer clothing rather than their skin, and finding himself charged with delivering a baby—having only read about the procedure in text books. Not yet marked by the dark fantasy of his later writing, this early work features a realistic and wonderfully engaging narrative voice—the voice, indeed, of twentieth century Russia’s greatest writer.

A dark, fantastical satire of Communist utopianism by the author of The Master and Margarita. Lauded Russian author and playwright Mikhail Bulgakov''s A Dog''s Heart (sometimes translated as The Heart of a Dog) is a zany, violent, and whimsical satire of the failures inherent in the dream of a Communist utopia, following dog-turned-human Sharik as he tries and fails utterly to live a life of goodness and virtue—but goodness and virtue as defined by whom? Both a nod to the Frankenstein myth and a vicious critique of the Soviet government''s attempts to reshape and redefine personhood during and after the Russian Revolution, A Dog''s Heart was rejected for publication by censors in 1925, but was circulated via samizdat—the clandestine production and distribution of literature that had been banned by the state—for years until it was translated into English in 1968. To this day, the book remains one of Bulgakov''s most highly regarded works.

Psalm is a famouse short story of ukraіnian wrighter Mikhail Bulgakov. Bulgakov was a Soviet playwright, novelist, and short story writer best known for his humor and penetrating satire. Because of their realism and humor, Bulgakov’s works enjoyed great popularity, but their trenchant criticism of Soviet mores was increasingly unacceptable to the authorities.