Master and Margarita

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 garden of Gethsemane unfold.

At the intersection of fantasy and realism, satire and unflinching emotional truths, Mikhail Bulgakovs classic The Master and Margarita eloquently lampoons every aspect of Soviet life under Stalins 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 charactersa 'magician' who is actually the devil in disguise, a giant cat, a witch, a fanged assassinsow 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 Bulgakovs last completed creative work before his death in 1940. The novel was not published until 196626 years after Bulgakovs deathbut has since become one of the most well-regarded works of Russian literature of the 20th Century. The novel was an immediate success upon its publication. Its enduring and widespread popularity saw it adapted or referenced in film, television, radio, comic strips , theater productions, music, and opera.

The Alma Classics edition of The Master and Margarita is translated by Hugh Aplin with the authorization of the Bulgakov Estate and Andrew Nurnberg Associates. Hugh Aplin has worked at the Universities of Leeds and St. Andrews and is currently Head of Russian at Westminster School, London. His translation reflects the clear, humorous, and profound language of the original with colloquial English idioms and phrasings. Readers without previous experience in Russian literature will find this translation to be accessible and fun, even though the subtext of Bulgakovs works is the murky, mysterious underbelly of Soviet culture.