Synopses & Reviews
Drawing closely on Bulgakov's personal experiences of the horrors of civil war as a young doctor, "The White Guard" takes place in Kiev, 1918, a time of turmoil and suffocating uncertainty as the Bolsheviks, Socialists and Germans fight for control of the city. It tells the story of the Turbins, a once-wealthy Russian family, as they are forced to come to terms with revolution and a new regime.
Synopsis
The setting is Kiev in 1918, a time of revolution, turmoil and civil war. The Germans have occupied the city, Petlyura's Socialists are camped outside awaiting their moment, while the Bolsheviks watch, contemplating their buried armaments. It is a time of suspense and anguished uncertainty for everyone, including the once-wealthy Turbin family, who, like the other last supporters of the Tsar, will find their world growing smaller and smaller until it disappears altogether. This memorable novel, published in 1923, was Bulgakov's first major work.
About the Author
Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and lived most of his adult life in Stalinist Russia. A journalist, playwright, novelist, and short story writer, he is best known in the West for his novel "The Master and Margarita," Marian Schwartz is a prize-winning Russian translator who recently received her second Translation Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts to translate Olga Slavnikova's newest novel, "2017," She has translated classic literary works by Nina Berberova and Yuri Olesha, as well as Edvard Radzinsky's "The Last Tsar," She lives in Austin, TX.