Published in 1987, this book was the first full-length interpretative study in English of the later writings of the outstanding Soviet novelist and playwright Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940). The focus is the 1930s, the period when Bulgakov was writing The Master and Margarita, an extraordinary novel that has had a profound impact in the Soviet Union and which is now generally regarded as his masterpiece. Using material from Soviet archives and libraries, Dr Curtis suggests that Bulgakov's fundamental preoccupation in this movel with the destiny of literature and of the writer is reflected in other major works of the same period, in particular his writings on Pushkin and Molière. Bulgakov emerges as a belated romantic, a figure unique on the early Soviet literacy scene.

Bulgakov's Last Decade: The Writer as Hero (Cambridge Studies in Russian Literature)

Literature & Fiction

Curtis, J.A.E.

History & Criticism

Cambridge University Press

1987 1st Cambridge University. ISBN 0 521 32671 0. Hardcover. Small octavo, 250pp., cloth. Fine in VG DJ, one inch close tear.

Bulgakov's Last Decade: The Writer As Hero (Cambridge Studies in Russian Literature)

Manuscripts don't burn: Mikhail Bulgakov, a life in letters and diaries

Biographies & Memoirs

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

The Englishman from Lebedian: A Life of Evgeny Zamiatin (Ars Rossica)

After Evgeny Zamiatin emigrated from the USSR in 1931, he was systematically airbrushed out of Soviet literary history, despite the central role he had played in the cultural life of Russia’s northern capital for nearly twenty years. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, his writings have gradually been rediscovered in Russia, but with his archives scattered between Russia, France, and the USA, the project of reconstructing the story of his life has been a complex task. This book, the first full biography of Zamiatin in any language, draws upon his extensive correspondence and other documents in order to provide an account of his life which explores his intimate preoccupations, as well as uncovering the political and cultural background to many of his works. It reveals a man of strong will and high principles, who negotiated the political dilemmas of his day―including his relationship with Stalin―with great shrewdness.

Arts & Literature

Academic Studies Press

After Evgeny Zamiatin emigrated from the USSR in 1931, he was systematically airbrushed out of Soviet literary history, despite the central role he had played in the cultural life of Russia’s northern capital for nearly twenty years. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, his writings have gradually been rediscovered in Russia, but with his archives scattered between Russia, France, and the USA, the project of reconstructing the story of his life has been a complex task. This book, the first full biography of Zamiatin in any language, draws upon his extensive correspondence and other documents in order to provide an account of his life which explores his intimate preoccupations, as well as uncovering the political and cultural background to many of his works. It reveals a man of strong will and high principles, who negotiated the political dilemmas of his day―including his relationship with Stalin―with great shrewdness.

A Reader’s Companion to Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita (Companions to Russian Literature)

Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita, set in Stalin’s Moscow, is an intriguing work with a complex structure, wonderful comic episodes and moments of great beauty. Readers are often left tantalized but uncertain how to understand its rich meanings. To what extent is it political? Or religious? And how should we interpret the Satanic Woland? This reader’s companion offers readers a biographical introduction, and analyses of the structure and the main themes of the novel. More curious readers will also enjoy the accounts of the novel’s writing and publication history, alongside analyses of the work’s astonishing linguistic complexity and a review of available English translations.

Humor & Satire

Mikhail Bulgakov (1891–1940) was one of the most popular Russian writers of the twentieth century, but many of his works were banned for decades after his death due to the extreme political repression his country enforced. Even his great novel, The Master and Margarita, was written in complete secrecy during the 1930s for fear of the writer being arrested and shot. In her revelatory new biography, J. A. E. Curtis provides a fresh account of Bulgakov’s life and work, from his idyllic childhood in Kiev to the turmoil of World War One, the Russian Revolution, and civil war. Exploring newly available archives that have opened up following the dissolution of the USSR, Curtis draws on new historical documents in order to trace Bulgakov’s life. She offers insights on his absolute determination to establish himself as a writer in Bolshevik Moscow, his three marriages and tumultuous personal life, and his triumphs as a dramatist in the 1920s. She also reveals how he struggled to defend his art and preserve his integrity in Russia under the close scrutiny of Stalin himself, who would personally weigh in each time on whether one of his plays should be permitted or banned. Based upon many years of research and examining previously little-known letters and diaries, this is an absorbing account of the life and work of one of Russia’s most inventive and exuberant novelists and playwrights.

Mikhail Bulgakov (Critical Lives)

Reaktion Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Curtis, J.A.E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Curtis, J.A.E.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Curtis, J.A.E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Bulgakov's Last Decade: The Writer as Hero (Cambridge Studies in Russian Literature)

Bulgakov's Last Decade: The Writer As Hero (Cambridge Studies in Russian Literature)

Manuscripts don't burn: Mikhail Bulgakov, a life in letters and diaries

The Englishman from Lebedian: A Life of Evgeny Zamiatin (Ars Rossica)

The Englishman from Lebedian: A Life of Evgeny Zamiatin (Ars Rossica)

A Reader’s Companion to Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita (Companions to Russian Literature)

A Reader’s Companion to Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita (Companions to Russian Literature)

Mikhail Bulgakov (Critical Lives)