The career of Mikhail Bulgakov, the author of Master and Margarita - now
regarded as one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century literature -
was characterized by a constant and largely unsuccessful struggle
against state censorship. This suppression did not only apply to his
art: in 1926 his personal diary was seized by the authorities. From then
on he confined his thoughts to letters to his friends and family, as
well as to public figures such as Stalin and his fellow Soviet writer
Gorky, while also encouraging his wife Yelena to keep a diary, with many
entries influenced or even dictated by him.
This ample selection from the diaries and letters of the Bulgakovs,
mostly translated for the first time into English, provides an
insightful glimpse into a fascinating period of Russian history and
literature, telling the tragic tale of the fate of an artist under a
totalitarian regime.