The White Guard: Bulgakov’s first novel of home, loyalty and civil war in Kyiv

Discover Mikhail Bulgakov’s classic literary love letter to the city of Kyiv.

Drawing closely on Bulgakov’s personal experiences of civil war as a young doctor, The White Guard takes place in Kyiv during the winter of 1918-1919, as the German-backed Hetmanate collapses and rival forces fight for control of the city.

At the centre of the novel are the Turbins: Alexei, Elena and Nikolka, siblings trying to preserve their home, loyalty and dignity as the world they know breaks apart. Around them, officers, civilians and political opportunists move through panic, rumour, betrayal and sudden violence.

Bulgakov’s first novel is a classic of twentieth-century Russian literature: a literary historical novel about family, civil war, political collapse and the fragility of civilisation. Domestic realism, satire and war chronicle combine in a moving portrait of people trying to remain human amid revolution.

'The tumultuous atmosphere of the Ukrainian revolution and civil war is brilliantly evoked' Daily Telegraph