Between Two Worlds

Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita" presents the story of Christ's Passion curiously interwoven with a modern love-story, and with the adventures in 20th century Moscow of a mysterious stranger and his obstreperous retinue. Hailed as one of the most important and original works of fiction to have emerged from the Soviet Union, it has been, since its posthumous publication in 1966-7, the subject of immense interest and debate. Dr Barratt's book, the first comprehensive study of Bulgakov's novel in English, begins with an account of its evolution and its reception inside and outside Russia. In the second part, the author puts forward, against the background of other critical approaches, his own interpretation of the key questions - the problem of the stranger's identity, the meaning of the biblical narrative, and the place of "The Master and Margarita" in the European tradition.