Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita is, among other things, a satire. The author criticises real people in the Soviet Union of the 30s and creates absurd situations by mixing reality and fiction. That mix is hidden everywhere throughout the novel in small details which, at first sight, seem to be trivial, but which are significant for those who know why they are mentioned. In this book you can find annotations, ordered by chapter, explaining the names, locations, situations, quotations and other elements which Mikhail Bulgakov used to illustrate his view of Soviet society, with the aim of better understanding the novel. The terms are mentioned in the order of their first appearance in the novel. On various places in this book you will find Quick Reference (QR) codes which you can scan to gain immediate access to more detailed information on the Master and Margarita website.

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 It remained unpublished until 1966—and went on to become one of the most well-regarded works of Russian literature of the twentieth century, adapted or referenced in film, television,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.

Satan comes to Soviet Moscow in this critically acclaimed translation of one of the most important and best-loved modern classics in world literature. The Master and Margarita has been captivating readers around the world ever since its first publication in 1967. Written during Stalin’s time in power but suppressed in the Soviet Union for decades, Bulgakov’s masterpiece is an ironic parable on power and its corruption, on good and evil, and on human frailty and the strength of love. In The Master and Margarita, the Devil himself pays a visit to Soviet Moscow. Accompanied by a retinue that includes the fast-talking, vodka-drinking, giant tomcat Behemoth, he sets about creating a whirlwind of chaos that soon involves the beautiful Margarita and her beloved, a distraught writer known only as the Master, and even Jesus Christ and Pontius Pilate. The Master and Margarita combines fable, fantasy, political satire, and slapstick comedy to create a wildly entertaining and unforgettable tale that is commonly considered the greatest novel to come out of the Soviet Union. It appears in this edition in a translation by Mirra Ginsburg that was judged “brilliant” by Publishers Weekly. Praise for The Master and Margarita “A wild surrealistic romp. . . . Brilliantly flamboyant and outrageous.” —Joyce Carol Oates, The Detroit News “Fine, funny, imaginative. . . . The Master and Margarita stands squarely in the great Gogolesque tradition of satiric narrative.” —Saul Maloff, Newsweek “A rich, funny, moving and bitter novel. . . . Vast and boisterous entertainment.” —The New York Times “The book is by turns hilarious, mysterious, contemplative and poignant. . . . A great work.” —Chicago Tribune “Funny, devilish, brilliant satire. . . . It’s literature of the highest order and . . . it will deliver a full measure of enjoyment and enlightenment.” —Publishers Weekly

Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita is, among other things, a satire. The author criticises real people in the Soviet Union of the 30s and creates absurd situations by mixing reality and fiction. That mix is hidden everywhere throughout the novel in small details which, at first sight, seem to be trivial, but which are significant for those who know why they are mentioned. In this book you can find annotations, ordered by chapter, explaining the names, locations, situations, quotations and other elements which Mikhail Bulgakov used to illustrate his view of Soviet society, with the aim of better understanding the novel. The terms are mentioned in the order of their first appearance in the novel. On various places in this book you will find Quick Reference (QR) codes which you can scan to gain immediate access to more detailed information on the Master and Margarita website.

Disappearances, destruction and death spread throughout Moscow like wildfire, and Margarita has discovered that her lover has vanished in the chaos. Making a bargain with the devil, she decides to try a little black magic of her own to save the man she loves.

A volume of the renowned Russian author’s letters and diary entries: “an evocative chronicle of [his] life, beginning with the 1917 revolution” (The Guardian, UK). Mikhail Bulgakov was one of the most important literary voices of Soviet Russia. Yet his books were banned in his own country and his greatest novel, The Master and Margarita, was only published more than twenty years after his death. In Manuscripts Don't Burn—the title, a line from his famous novel—J.A. E. Curtis presents a gripping and intimate chronicle of Bulgakov's life, drawn from his own personal writings. Among other documents, Curtis draws on a partial copy of one of Bulgakov’s diaries which was presumed lost until it was uncovered in the KGB’s archives. That diary and those of the author’s third wife record the nightmarish precariousness of life during the Stalinist purges. Also included are letters to Stalin, in which Bulgakov pleads to be allowed to emigrate; letters to his siblings; intimate notes to his second and third wives; and letters to and from other writers such as Gorky and Zamyatin.

Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita, set in Stalin’s Moscow, is an intriguing work with a complex structure, wonderful comic episodes and moments of great beauty. Readers are often left tantalized but uncertain how to understand its rich meanings. To what extent is it political? Or religious? And how should we interpret the Satanic Woland? This reader’s companion offers readers a biographical introduction, and analyses of the structure and the main themes of the novel. More curious readers will also enjoy the accounts of the novel’s writing and publication history, alongside analyses of the work’s astonishing linguistic complexity and a review of available English translations.