The Master and Margarita (Alma Classics)

Ingeniously intertwining narratives, from remorse-ridden Pontius Pilate to a persecuted writer in Stalinist Moscow, Bulgakov's sparkling critique of totalitarianism is a powerful meditation on love, evil, freedom and the greatest magician of all - literature.

Bulgakov paints an excellent picture of Stalin's regime in this allegorical masterpiece. With an introduction by Will Self.

The devil makes a personal appearance in Moscow accompanied by various demons, including a naked girl and a huge black cat. When he leaves, the asylums are full and the forces of law and order are in disarray. Only the Master, a man devoted to truth, and Margarita, the woman he loves, can resist the devil's onslaught.

Both 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.