Mikhail Bulgakov Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Plays

Publication Order of Graphic Novels

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Mikhail Bulgakov is a Russian fiction author and Play writer born in 1891. He studied and practiced medicine, and after wandering through Russia and the Caucasus, he settled in Moscow in 1921.

After abandoning medicine, he decided to become a writer and wrote his debut novel, Future Perspectives.
His book The White Guard was a great success at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1926. The author also wrote a great biography for his hero Molière.
The Master and Margarita is a fantasy novel with stories of the devil and his henchmen set in new Moscow is considered his masterpiece.

Heart of a Dog
During the cold winter in Moscow, a dog feebly walks his last steps looking stray, hungry like he had no food for the last few days. The dog appears to have been injured by someone by throwing boiling water at him leaving burn wounds by his side.

No one seems to give a second look at the dying dog as its last breath comes knocking. Heartless passersby hear the pitiful noises of the dog, but they do nothing about it.

Surprisingly, a famous surgeon pities him and takes the dog to his clinic. He feeds and treats his wound in the clinic, and the pain starts fading after some time.

The dog is so happy to have plenty of food, a place to live, and a decent collar to wear on the streets as he journeys to recovery.
When he is happy for having a kind master, he realizes that things aren’t what they seem.

The dog becomes suspicious, and he is right as it was not through the goodness of his heart that surgeon Philip took him.
Just when the dog appears to have a comfortable life, the surgeon and his assistant throw him on the operation table.
The operation is assisted by Doctor Ivan Arnoldvich Bormenthal, who happens to be Philip’s best friend. In the bloody and complex operation, they transplant testicles, pituitary gland of a dead criminal to a dog’s body.

Soon, the animal starts transforming into a human, and his anatomy begins to change. The dog starts walking with two legs, drinking and smoking and seems familiar with every common Russian swearword. He is named Sharikov and turns the surgeon’s life into a nightmare. The fun starts where the home of the doctor is torn up, bottles of alcohol are drunk, water starts to flow, things break.

The house is now in danger of being completely destroyed, and the doctor’s presence becomes undependable.
The dead man whose body parts were transplanted to the dog was an alcoholic.

Even though Sharikov’s appearance has changed, his heart is still a dog, and his behavior doesn’t change. Will the doctor be able to control him?
The author shows how it isn’t possible for system change overnight artificially and forced since people can’t adapt that quickly through the book. For this reason, Sharikov is not to blame for his behavior; instead, the doctors who created him are responsible.

The Master and Margarita
The Story starts in 1930 Soviet Moscow, where a man known as the Master decides to walk. On the way, he meets a sad woman in her hands, a bunch of flowers and the two start strolling side by side down the lane.

Their attraction is so fast and intense, and the lady is the first to speak, asking the Master whether he likes flowers.
The Master responds that he likes flowers but not the type she’s carrying. She then throws the flowers on the gutter, and the Master picks them and carries them for her.

Their relationship goes on secretly since the lady is still seeing someone else. They spent most evenings in Master’s basement apartment as he writes a book about Pontius Pilate while she knits and spurs him on.

Due to Margarita’s encouragement, the Master takes his novel to the editor, where he is turned down, and his book is maliciously shared with the publishing community. Later the Master is called out by some newspapers articles as a Christ apologist.

The Master is now labelled a ‘militant old believer,’ which makes him fall into despair. Margarita promises to stay with him no matter what comes and immediately runs to break up with his other man.
When she comes back to Master’s apartment the following day, she finds him gone. All this happened four months ago, and now the author takes us to the present time where the Master has been living in a mental institute since the day Margarita left briefly.

On the other hand, Margarita has been looking for the Master, but her efforts are futile, and she tries moving on and marries someone else instead.
Meanwhile, the unexpected happens; the devil himself visits Moscow. With the help of an absurd crew, he jokingly wreaks havoc everywhere he steps foot on.
He introduces himself to two men at the park, and after their conversation, one of them slips on the streetcar tracks while on the way to a meeting where an oncoming streetcar beheads him.

The other men are taken to a mental institute, the one the Master is in.
In another crazy scene, the devil tricks the manager of the Variety Theatre to let him perform black magic for a packed house. The devil rain money from the ceiling during the performance, and the audience grabs the money into their pockets.

Later, the money starts transforming into bees and bits after being spent. On the other performance, the ladies present in the audience are called onstage to pick up nice and beautiful dresses at no fee. The only price is that the dresses vanish when worn.

These seemingly unrelated plotlines cross paths on the night before the devil’s yearly ‘spring ball of the full moon.’ Naturally, the gala calls for a woman by the name of Margarita to do the duties of a hostess.

There are many ladies by that name, but the love-stricken Margarita is found as the suitable match. She accepts but makes a deal with the devil to reunite her with the Mater after the gala.
Will margarita meet Master once more?