Chudakova, Maria. The Life of Mikhail Bulgakov (Zhizneopisanie Mikhaila Bulgakova), 1988. In Russian

Мария Чудакова. Жизнеописание Михаила Булгакова.
2-е издание.
Серия: Писатели о писателях.
Москва: Книга, 1988.
672 с. Твердый переплет. Стандартный формат.
***
Chudakova, Maria. The Life of Mikhail Bulgakov (Zhizneopisanie Mikhaila Bulgakova).
Second edition.
Series: Pisateli o pisateleiakh.
Moscow: Kniga, 1988.
672 p. Hardcover. Standard format.

This is the second, expanded edition (1988) of the monumental and authoritative biography of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (1891–1940) by the preeminent scholar of his work, Maria Olegovna Chudakova (born 1937). Published in the series "Writers on Writers" by the "Kniga" publishing house, this volume represents the culmination of decades of meticulous archival research, textual analysis, and literary detective work. Chudakova, a Doctor of Philological Sciences and the leading Bulgakov specialist, reconstructs the writer's life and creative journey against the turbulent backdrop of early 20th-century Russian history. The biography is renowned for its scrupulous documentation, drawing on a vast array of previously unpublished archival materials, personal diaries, letters, and testimonies from contemporaries. It traces Bulgakov's path from his medical career in Kiev and the Civil War through his struggles with censorship in Moscow, his work in the theater, and the creation of his masterpiece, The Master and Margarita. Widely recognized as a classic of Bulgakov studies and an indispensable source, this substantial hardcover volume cemented Chudakova's reputation and remains the foundational biographical work on one of Russia's most enigmatic and celebrated writers.