History Literature / IstanbulIntrigues

->''"Istanbul was a neutral city where enemies fighting to the death sat table to table in elegant restaurants listening to [[UsefulNotes/{{Roma}} Gypsy]] orchestras. It was a city where a German and an American intelligence agent fell in love with the same Hungarian singer. Those who had barely escaped from lands of bombed-out buildings, shortages, and fear came to a place of bounteous peace. For people daily risking their lives elsewhere, as one of them put it, the most urgent question in Istanbul might be the waiter's query, 'Do you prefer red wine or champagne with your dinner?'"''

* TreasureRoom : The office of the {{SOE}} had a large vault full of British gold coins to be used in nefarious enterprises in which paper money just wouldn't do. One British agent called it "the stable" because each coin was stamped with a picture of a mounted St George. The money was referred to as "Britain's cavalry".

* StoneWall: ZigZagged. Turkey has a large and [[ProudWarriorRace very pugnacious]] population in tough terrain which discourages invaders. At the same time in {{Istanbul}} itself the authorities are terrified, knowing that their city is ill-defended and full of extremely flamable buildings, and generally vulnerable to DeathFromAbove.

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII

* {{Istanbul}}

** More specifically, he had a dangerous combination of taste for intrigue with an overestimation of his skill in such matters. He had already been declared persona non grata twice in his career for meddling in a host country's internal affairs. The Nazis might have killed him because [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness He Was Outliving His Usefulness]] and was more then a bit of a [[TheStarscream starscream]], the Anti-nazi german exiles might have done so because they blamed him for Hitler's rise. The Jews might have done so for {{Revenge}}, as might any resistance group, and though unlikely the Allies might have done so [[NothingPersonal for strategic reasons]] if he became annoying enough to make them ignore DiplomaticImpunity and von Papen was just the sort to do things like that. As it happened it was the Russians apparently wishing for a rift between Germany and Turkey.

A history of espionage in Istanbul and the surrounding area during WorldWarII, written by Barry Rubin. It is a better read then most SpyFiction, and contains a large amount of stories. All of these are true as far as the author can tell (for obvious reasons, this kind of story generally supposes some leeway).

* WarIsGlorious: If you get to spend WorldWarII eating [[FancyDinner Fancy Dinners]] at Istanbul and making schemes.
* WarIsHell: If you spend WorldWarII ''not'' eating [[FancyDinner Fancy Dinners]] at Istanbul.
* WorldWarII

** More specifically, he had a dangerous combination of taste for intrigue with an overestimation of his skill in such matters. He had already been declared persona non grata twice in his career for meddling in a host countries internal affairs. The Nazis might have killed him because [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness He Was Outliving His Usefulness]] and was more then a bit of a [[TheStarscream starscream]], the Anti-nazi german exiles might have done so because they blamed him for Hitler's rise. The Jews might have done so for {{Revenge}}, as might any resistance group, and though unlikely the Allies might have done so [[NothingPersonal for strategic reasons]] if he became annoying enough to make them ignore DiplomaticImpunity and von Papen was just the sort to do things like that. As it happened it was the Russians apparently wishing for a rift between Germany and Turkey.

-->--''Preface''

-->Istanbul was a neutral city where enemies fighting to the death sat table to table in elegant restaurants listening to Gypsy orchestras. It was a city where a German and an American intelligence agent fell in love with the same Hungarian singer. Those who had barely escaped from lands of bombed-out buildings, shortages, and fear came to a place of bounteous peace. For people daily risking their lives elsewhere, as one of them put it, the most urgent question in Istanbul might be the waiters query, "Do you prefer red wine or champagne with your dinner?"

* AlwaysGetsHisMan: Turkish security, called the {{Emniyet}}. Don't ever cross them.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder : Several agents have this.

* TheCityNarrows: The ally ways of Istanbul
* CombatReferee : The {{Emniyet}}, Turkish security served as this.

* OvertOperative: George Earle. He was so flamboyant that the {{OSS}} cut off contact with him and used him as a diversion.

* BadassBureaucrat: Betty Carp, the {{OSS}} secretary

* RecycledInSpace: Not in the sense of a deliberate attempt by the author. However IstanbulIntrigues, by coincidence, has a weird resemblance to ''Series/BabylonFive''.