[Manuscripts don't burn]

Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) studied at Kiev University and qualified in medicine in 1916. He worked as a doctor for a few years, then chose a literary career. All his life he was sceptical to the Soviet system and used his satire against the regime. Because of that he met difficulties as an author and could not publish anything after 1927. He worked on his main work, The Master and Margarita, from 1928 until his death. The novel was not published in his lifetime. In 1966-67 an abridged and censored edition appeared. Not until 1973 was a complete edition published in Moscow, and it soon became a cult book in Russia. In the major part of The Master and Margarita, the scene is in Moscow between the two world wars, with Bulgakov using his own experience. Through subtle irony and wild humour he exposes the imperfections of this society. To obtain this, he employs the Devil with his suite of strange figures. The book is also a love story between the Master and Margarita. The Master is writing a novel about Pontius Pilate, and this narrative runs parallel to the Moscow story, so that the book puts an eternal perspective on human frailty.