These lively and entertaining memoirs have never before appeared in Russian. Mikhail Semenov (1873 – 1952) lived a truly remarkable life, which included publishing Symbolist books and journals, and helping stage Diagilev’s Ballets Russes in Italy. A writer and publisher, Semenov was one of the founders of the renowned Zubov Institute of the History of the Arts in St. Petersburg. His acquaintances were vast: he knew many in Mussolini’s circle, as well as eminent poets of the Russian Silver age. At different stages of his life he was a Tolstoyan, a Marxist, and an Italian secret police agent. His fate, like that of a great number of fin de si cle figures, followed many twists and turns, with often abrupt changes of direction. Bacchus and the Syrens offers a vivid and memorable account of his adventures, against the backdrop of the crucial events of the first half of the 20th century.