One December night in 1942, a Nazi parachutist landed in a Cambridgeshire field. His mission: to sabotage the British war effort. His name was Eddie Chapman, but he would shortly become MI5's Agent Zigzag. Dashing and louche, courageous and unpredictable, the traitor was a patriot inside, and the villain a hero. The problem for Chapman, his many lovers and his spymasters was knowing who he was. Ben Macintyre weaves together diaries, letters, photographs, memories and top-secret MI5 files to create the exhilarating account of Britain's most sensational double agent.
Agent Zigzag
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'This is the most amazing book, full of fascinating and hair-raising true life adventures ... it would be impossible to recommend it too highly' Mail on Sunday 'Superb. Meticulously researched, splendidly told, immensely entertaining and often very moving' John le Carre 'It is unlikely that a more engaging study of espionage and deception will be published this year' The Times 'Macintyre tells Chapman's tale in a perfect pitch ... Macintyre never misses a delightful, haunting or terrifying detail ... Buy it for dads everywhere but read it too' Observer
Book Description
The true wartime story of Eddie Chapman, lover, betrayer, hero and spy.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is tremendous book; well-researched and well written. The author, Ben Macintyre deals with Eddie Chapman as though he was one of Chapman's Security Service handlers; questioning everything, giving praise where appropriate but never quite trusting him. He describes Chapman as `a shameless liar', sentiments with which I fully agree. There is no doubt that Chapman did a good service for his country since he convincingly bluffed the Germans but he `tried it on' with everybody he encountered and I wonder which way he would have jumped if the allies had lost the war?
A gripping account of England's most famous double agent.
A gripping account of England's most famous double agent.
52 of 55 people found the following review helpful
By Julia Flyte
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Audio CD
This highly entertaining and utterly gripping audio CD is the true story of Eddie Chapman, a British petty criminal who ended up serving as an spy for both England and Germany during World War 2, and who was hailed as a hero by both sides. "Agent Zigzag" is the name that he was given by the British authorities who were aware of his status as a double agent and used him to feed misinformation to the Germans.
Chapman's story is so full of adventure and ripe with coincidence that would be unbelievable if it were a novel. The story of how he comes to be an agent for the Germans is in itself worthy of a movie, taking us from a bank robbery in Scotland to prison - and eventual freedom - on the island of Jersey and then incarceration in the worst of Parisian prisons.
Chapman emerges as a kind of James Bond character: a handsome and charming rogue with a penchant for adventure, for gambling, fine food and fast women. He is a fascinating mass of contradictions: utterly loyal to his friends even as he betrays them, a hopeless criminal who develops into a resourceful spy.
Ben MacIntyre has amassed a vast amount of detail about not only Chapman, but his associates in both the German and English secret services. There is lots of interesting information about how those secret services functioned and what they achieved during the war. I was particularly riveted by the details about his training in spy techniques by the Nazis.
The audio book is made up of 5 CDs and plays for about 6 hours. It is beautifully read and very clearly enunciated. While it is an abridged version of the book, it has been very skillfully adapted and (having also read the book) I can tell you that they've done an excellent job of maintaining all the key points. My one criticism is that they should have incorporated more photographs into the accompanying booklet, which could easily have been done. They don't even tell you who the photos on the cover are, so for your reference the large image is Chapman after the war, the woman is Dagmar Lahlum (his Norwegian girlfriend), the man with the eyeglass is Colonel Robin Stephens (the commander of Camp 020) and the figure with the hat is Chapman again, later in life, posing in as SS uniform.
Chapman's story is so full of adventure and ripe with coincidence that would be unbelievable if it were a novel. The story of how he comes to be an agent for the Germans is in itself worthy of a movie, taking us from a bank robbery in Scotland to prison - and eventual freedom - on the island of Jersey and then incarceration in the worst of Parisian prisons.
Chapman emerges as a kind of James Bond character: a handsome and charming rogue with a penchant for adventure, for gambling, fine food and fast women. He is a fascinating mass of contradictions: utterly loyal to his friends even as he betrays them, a hopeless criminal who develops into a resourceful spy.
Ben MacIntyre has amassed a vast amount of detail about not only Chapman, but his associates in both the German and English secret services. There is lots of interesting information about how those secret services functioned and what they achieved during the war. I was particularly riveted by the details about his training in spy techniques by the Nazis.
The audio book is made up of 5 CDs and plays for about 6 hours. It is beautifully read and very clearly enunciated. While it is an abridged version of the book, it has been very skillfully adapted and (having also read the book) I can tell you that they've done an excellent job of maintaining all the key points. My one criticism is that they should have incorporated more photographs into the accompanying booklet, which could easily have been done. They don't even tell you who the photos on the cover are, so for your reference the large image is Chapman after the war, the woman is Dagmar Lahlum (his Norwegian girlfriend), the man with the eyeglass is Colonel Robin Stephens (the commander of Camp 020) and the figure with the hat is Chapman again, later in life, posing in as SS uniform.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
There are times when reading this book, when one would be forgiven for thinking that this is a work of fiction. The stories come thick and fast and for this reason alone it is well worth a read. The really interesting piece, I found, was the description of the relationship that developed between the spy and his handlers. Complex, confused, ever changing and fascinating as each fought to keep the upper hand in an dynamic and unpredictable environment. Well worth the read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
EXCELLENT
This book is great. It is the second book by Ben Macintyre that I have read. The book is well written and very easy to read.
Published 7 days ago by James William Hinchliffe
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant
Really interesting and well written although this book probably appeals to men I am a woman and I could not put it down ,I read it after reading Operation Mincemeat another really... Read more
Published 7 days ago by sheila mannall
4.0 out of 5 stars
Agent Zigzag book.
Found this book difficult to buy in high street. Bought this as a gift for somebody. Very pleased , would buy again.
Published 9 days ago by Mrs J E Baldwin
5.0 out of 5 stars
reasons I bought this book
I bought this book as a birthday present for my older brother. He said it was an excellent read, right up his street!
Published 10 days ago by Sandra Davis
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping from A to Zigzag
Very rare for my to be gripped from the first sentence. This book managed it. Simply, a totally gripping read.
Published 16 days ago by AMK
5.0 out of 5 stars
great read
fascinating book, fulfilled all expectations. Recommended for anyone interested in spying and living on the edge, where truth is stranger than fiction
Published 18 days ago by race walker
5.0 out of 5 stars
An incredible tale.
It's often said of stories like this that 'if they were fiction, they would be dismissed as far-fetched'! Read more
Published 18 days ago by wolverine
4.0 out of 5 stars
A splendid biography of a larger-than-life character
Agent Zigzag is the remarkable story of Second World War double agent Eddie Chapman. Along the way Eddie meets an extraordinary cast of characters. Read more
Published 25 days ago by nigeyb
5.0 out of 5 stars
agent Zigzag
great read and very evocative of its time, I read this after the story of Operation Mincemeat and it was in the same vein, highly recommend this if you like War time spy stories
Published 26 days ago by David Coster
5.0 out of 5 stars
An engrossing real-life spy story
For a real insight into a very special World War 2 spy, there can be no more interesting read. During the War, intelligence officers had to be recruited for their very special... Read more
Published 29 days ago by J. M. Passmore
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