The novel 'The White Guard' is the story of a 'vague darkness' that fell upon his native land. It is the story of a civil war, a terrible time of fratricidal conflict, a story of the collapse of traditions and foundations, a story of bloodshed, told through the eyes of an eyewitness and participant in the events. The writer began work on the novel 'The White Guard' back in 1922, and in March 1923, the magazine 'Russia' reported that M. Bulgakov was completing the novel. 'The White Guard' was Bulgakov's first major work, and the mood with which Bulgakov entered Russian literature was reflected in all his subsequent work. In this first 'great prose' of Bulgakov, motifs of his final, 'sunset novel,' 'The Master and Margarita' are already heard.