"A Country Doctor's Notebook" is a fascinating blend of autobiography and fiction by the esteemed author Mikhail Bulgakov, known for his masterpiece, The Master and Margarita. This collection provides a glimpse into the early years of Bulgakov's career, showcasing a master at the dawn of his craft.

In 1916, a 25-year-old, newly qualified doctor named Mikhail Bulgakov was posted to the remote Russian countryside. Armed with a diploma and a complete lack of field experience, he faced numerous challenges, including covering a vast and sprawling territory untouched by modern conveniences such as the motor car, the telephone, and electric lights.

The stories in A Country Doctor’s Notebook are based on this two-year window in Bulgakov's life. He candidly shares his feelings of inadequacy and warmly conjures episodes like peasants applying medicine to their outer clothing rather than their skin, and finding himself charged with delivering a baby—having only read about the procedure in textbooks.

Not yet marked by the dark fantasy of his later writing, this early work features a realistic and engaging narrative voice—the voice of twentieth-century Russia’s greatest writer.