A stunning, superb allegorical novel-Bulgakov is one of the greatest modern Russian writers, perhaps the greatest' Independent One of the great imaginative novels of the century, a fierce political satire, filled with the most dazzling surreal humour.

One hot spring, the devil arrives in Moscow, accompanied by two demons, a beautiful naked witch and a huge black cat with a fondness for chess and vodka. When the visitors leave, the asylums are full and the forces of law and order in disarray. Only the Master, a man devoted to truth, and Margarita, the woman he loves, remain undiminished. An audacious revision of the stories of Faust and Pontius Pilate, The Master and Margarita is one of the essential classics of modern Russian literature.