The devil himself appears in Stalins Moscow, disguised as a magician and accompanied by various demons (including a naked girl and a huge black cat who packs a gun), in Mikhail Bulgakovs acidly satirical masterpiece. They succeed in comically befuddling a population that denies the devils existence, even as it is confronted with the diabolic results of his handiwork. Only the Master, a man devoted to truth, and Margarita, the woman he loves, can resist the devils onslaught. In this wild ride, by turns fantastic and ironically philosophical (and suppressed until a quarter-century after Bulgakovs death), the story switches back and forth between 1930s Moscow and 1st-century Jerusalem. This edition offers commentary and an afterword that provide new insight into the mysterious subtexts of the novel, revealing Bulgakovs crowning work in all its complexity.