The Master and Margarita: Bulgakov’s magical satire of Moscow, truth and power

In Mikhail Bulgakov’s allegorical masterpiece of Stalin’s regime, the devil makes a personal appearance in Moscow, and from there everything starts to slip beautifully out of shape.

He arrives with a strange retinue of demons, including a naked girl and a huge black cat. As they move through the city, order gives way to chaos, the asylums fill, officials lose control, and the forces of law are left completely bewildered.

At the heart of The Master and Margarita are the Master, a writer devoted to truth, and Margarita, the woman who loves him. Against absurdity, terror and moral compromise, their loyalty becomes one of the few forces able to answer the devil’s onslaught.

Behind the spectacle, Bulgakov explores what survives when public life is ruled by fear: the courage to love, imagine and tell the truth. Translated by Michael Glenny, with an introduction by Will Self.