A full, post-glasnost critical biography of Mikhail Bulgakov (1891 1940).

Preface; Abbreviations; Transliteration; Dates; List of illustrations; Introduction; 1. Legendary times and extraordinary adventures: the formative years; 2. A calling without distinction: journalism, jottings and Notes on Shirt-cuffs; 3. When empires fall: Diaboliada and Heart of a Dog; 4. The heavenly city: The White Guard; 5. A dramatic debut: The Days of the Turbins and Zoyka's Apartment; 6. Brilliant work: A Country Doctor's Notebook; 7. The race of life: Flight; 8. The tinselled mantle: Crimson Island, 'The Engineer's Hoof', Moliere and the year of catastrophe; 9. All in the wrong direction: unperformed plays and unpublished novels 1930-39; 10. The sunset novel: The Master and Margarita; Conclusion; Appendix A: 'Aleksey's Dream' from The White Guard, translated by Michael Glenny; Appendix B: Letter from Mikhail Bulgakov of 28 March 1930 to the Soviet Government; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.