The head of the Istanbul branch of the Abwehr, Paul Leverkühn, in his book described in detail what this organization essentially was, how it was structured and what functions it performed. The Abwehr, initially intended to combat the activities of foreign intelligence services, gradually expanded, creating intelligence departments outside Germany. Based on the stories and memories of his colleagues, Leverkühn cited the most important and characteristic episodes of the Abwehr’s work in Poland, the USSR, the Scandinavian states and the countries of the Near and Middle East: espionage, sabotage, obtaining military-political information. The author did not ignore Admiral Canaris, under whose leadership the Abwehr became the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Wehrmacht.