Mikhail Bulgakov: The Life and Times

Marietta Chudakova is an expert on Soviet literature and on the works of Mikhail Bulgakov in particular. Her biography of Bulgakov was first published in 1988 and remains the most authoritative and comprehensive study of the writers life ever produced. It has received acclaim for the journalistic style in which it is written: the author draws on unpublished manuscripts and early drafts of Bulgakovs novels to bring the writer to life. She also explores archive documents and memoirs written by some of Bulgakovs contemporaries so as to construct a comprehensive and nuanced portrait of the writer and his life and times.