Yvette, the young French woman who has just arrived in Alexandria through mysterious circumstances, has an affair with Antonis Haramis, the absolute master of the tobacco industry. However, Elias Khouri is a "Lebanese" man with shady activities whose presence beside the young man allows us to foresee the subterranean developments : the young man is essential to anyone who wishes to do business with the standing forces.

The First World War breaks out. The two partners’ secret journey to Constantinople, to participate in a ball thrown by the embassy of Germany (the "Palais aux oiseaux" [Birds’ palace]), makes the tension grow. That’s when the "Lebanese" decides to make one of his oldest dreams come true : to open in Alexandria the biggest, the most chic brothel in all the Orient, the perfect place to get the most varied information...

War, espionage, love, jealously, all sorts of trafficking, sensuality... Alexandria is the cosmopolitan scene of an abundant time. The Orient in all its splendor meets the Occident in war. We witness the greatness and the decadence of a city and of its inhabitants.