THE CICERO SPY AFFAIR

German Access to British Secrets in World War II

by RICHARD WIRES

ISBN#978-1929631-80-3 • Trade Paper

$ 19.00

THE BRITISH EMBASSY IN ANKARA WAS PENETRATED BY HITLER’S AGENT…

Nazi Germany gained a major potential advantage from the theft of top secret documents by the ambassador’s personal valet, Elyza Bazna, an Albanian who photographed documents relating to strategic policy and military issues. The valet was to become the most highly paid spy in history until then, but he didn’t get to enjoy his money once it was discovered that the British banknotes he demanded came from the infamous Operation Bernhard, the counterfeiting project set up in a concentration camp by the SD, the Nazi foreign espionage department.

The spy story became immensely popular with the film Five Fingers starring James Mason. Author Richard Wires has written the definitive account of the Cicero case and placed it in its proper historical context in neutral Turkey at the turning point of the Second World War. Intrigue, mystery, and greed form the background to the classic account of a famous spy case.

Author: Richard Wires was professor of history at Ball State University and executive director of the London center. He also served in the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) in southern Germany.

“Richard Wires, exploiting fresh scholarly sources, exhausting every aspect, and examining them with a critical eye, takes us to the heart of the Cicero affair—once and for all.”

—David Kahn author of The Codebreakers and Hitler’s Spies

 “Professor Wires disposes of several popular legends.”

Times Literary Supplement

“This book is a model for the field.”Albion

Brilliantly researched…”International Social Science Review

“Wires has given us the best account yet of the remarkable espionage career of Elyesa Bazna”

Library Journal

“A thrilling plunge into the world of the legendary WWII spy code-name ‘Cicero’”

Kirkus