The events of “The Prague Cemetery” unfold almost entirely in France, but the consequences of this intrigue will tragically shock the whole world later. Soon the spotlight falls on* Russia, where in 1905 the famous literary forgery “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” was first printed. In the novel, the forgery is documented—through the efforts of those involved, it was created. The main hero is extremely unpleasant, and everything that happens to him is both awful and interesting. The author, building the plot in the spirit of Alexandre Dumas, leads the breathless reader through foul Parisian sewers and into criminal dens, recruits the hero into Garibaldian ranks, makes him spy for all the world’s intelligence and counterintelligence services—including the Russian secret police—calms the hysterics from Dr. Charcot’s clinic, drinks beer with Sigmund Freud, presses onward side by side with Freedom on the barricades, and even takes part in a Satanic mass. At the same time, as always, Umberto Eco delivers to the reader, wrapped in the shell of an adventure novel, a huge charge of knowledge and ideas.