THE MASTER AND MARGARITA

As a mysterious gentleman and self-proclaimed magician arrives in Moscow, followed by a most bizarre retinue of servants - which includes a strangely dressed ex-choirmaster, a fanged hitman and a mischievous tomcat with the gift of the gab - the Russian literary world is shaken to its foundations. It soon becomes clear that he is the Devil, and that he has come to wreak havoc among the cultural elite of the disbelieving capital. But the Devil's mission quickly becomes entangled with the fate of the Master - the author of an unpublished historical novel about Pontius Pilate - who has turned his back on real life and his lover Margarita, finding shelter in a lunatic asylum after traumatic publishers' rejections, vilification in the press and political persecution. Will the Devil manage to enlist the fiery Margarita into his ranks, will she remain faithful to the Master to the very end and come to his rescue? At the same time, a satirical romp and a daring analysis of the nature of good and evil, innocence and guilt, "The Master and Margarita" is the crowning achievement of one of the greatest Russian writers of the twentieth century. This new translation by Hugh Aplin is based on the recently restored, unexpurgated edition, which benefits from over three decades of Bulgakov scholarship.