- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Portrait (15 Jan 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0749951567
- ISBN-13: 978-0749951566
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.5 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 477,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'Nicholas Booth's engossing account of Eddie Chapman's exploits is a gripping page turner... an excellent portrait of this slippery real-life agent and conman.' David Stafford, author of Churchill and Secret Service --David Stafford, author of Churchill and Secret Service
'Nicholas Booth's compelling and well-researched biography.' Richard Basseett, London Evening Standard --Richard Basseett, London Evening Standard
'A splendidly vivid portrait of of the man and the British and German spooks with whom he dallied. One puts down his story fascinated by the man, but glad never to have met him.' Max Hastings, Sunday Times --Max Hastings, Sunday Times
'Nicholas Booth's compelling and well-researched biography.' Richard Basseett, London Evening Standard --Richard Basseett, London Evening Standard
'A splendidly vivid portrait of of the man and the British and German spooks with whom he dallied. One puts down his story fascinated by the man, but glad never to have met him.' Max Hastings, Sunday Times --Max Hastings, Sunday Times
Nigel West
Zigzag is a remarkable account of an extraordinary double agent.
Eddie Chapman was an authentic war hero and the author's meticulous
research does justice to his astomishing exploits.
Eddie Chapman was an authentic war hero and the author's meticulous
research does justice to his astomishing exploits.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'd never heard of Eddie Chapman before, so the story of this Second World War double agent astounded me - if it was fiction, you'd think it absurdly far-fetched! Eddie seems to have been a right villain (though his widow Betty rather sweetly denies he was an ace safecracker). But like Oscar Schindler, he proved that sometimes war can bring out the best in even out and out rogues - not many supposedly moral citizens would have had Eddie's ice-cool courage in fooling the Germans he was spying for them for so long. One slip and he was a dead man. In this thrilling book, Nick Booth has made good use of the recently-released M15 interrogation files; and the redoubtable Betty Chapman - who stoically endured Eddie's numerous infidelties- has made a touching contiribution to the memory of a great British hero.
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Zig-Zag is hugely enjoyable. If this was fiction you would dismiss it as too far fetched, but Eddie Chapman was one of those larger than life characters who crossed into the realm of the truly extraordinary when he was freed from a Jersey prison to work as a German spy. But the would-be collaborator turned double agent, sparking a chain of events that catapulted him into a real-life deadly game of cat and mouse deception.
This book chronicles, in entertaining fashion, the extraordinary exploits of this most unlikely of war heroes. And it does this in a totally non-judgemental way. It is one of those rare finds: a real page turner that is both well written and easy to read, and obviously well researched. Clearly, the author had privileged access to Eddie's widow and recently de-classified material, unearthing vivid new material. If you like dusty old biographies, this isn't the book for you.
What I particularly liked was the pace of the narrative and its no-nonsense depiction of the seemingly irreconcilable contradictions in Eddie's life. He was a womaniser but obviously respected and loved his wife, and as a criminal he fought the establishment but gambled with his life to protect it - the consummate double agent. Perhaps the greatest irony was that the Germans, not the British, awarded him a medal. Like all good conundrums, the book keeps us guessing by letting the reader decide what made this extraordinary man tick. That's a good thing, for I'd like to believe there is an Eddie Chapman somewhere in us all.
This book chronicles, in entertaining fashion, the extraordinary exploits of this most unlikely of war heroes. And it does this in a totally non-judgemental way. It is one of those rare finds: a real page turner that is both well written and easy to read, and obviously well researched. Clearly, the author had privileged access to Eddie's widow and recently de-classified material, unearthing vivid new material. If you like dusty old biographies, this isn't the book for you.
What I particularly liked was the pace of the narrative and its no-nonsense depiction of the seemingly irreconcilable contradictions in Eddie's life. He was a womaniser but obviously respected and loved his wife, and as a criminal he fought the establishment but gambled with his life to protect it - the consummate double agent. Perhaps the greatest irony was that the Germans, not the British, awarded him a medal. Like all good conundrums, the book keeps us guessing by letting the reader decide what made this extraordinary man tick. That's a good thing, for I'd like to believe there is an Eddie Chapman somewhere in us all.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Eddie Chapman, the subject of Nicholas Booth's engrossing biography, was essentially a man of his time and generation. From a modest background in Sunderland, his craving for excitement led him to London where he mixed with criminals as a safe-cracker, to Jersey where he landed in prison, and to occupied France where he threw himself into the arms of German Intelligence. The Germans trained him as a spy and saboteur and parachuted him into England where he threw himself into the arms of British Intelligence. For the rest of the war he served as a double agent, returning to Germany and being parachuted back into England a second time.
These exploits, even in the highly-charged atmosphere of a major war, would simply be unbelievable were it not for the access the author has had to declassified Intelligence files and to the memories and papers of Chapman's widow. They make for a fast-moving, gripping narrative which benefits from Booth's placing of Chapman's escapades within the wider context of the war.
There are moments where the reader may feel the story doesn't quite hang together. On one page Eddie is said to have passed idle days in Paris on the tourist boats; the following page portrays a Paris of food shortages, disrupted rail services and the impossibility of tourism. There are references to "field security policemen,' but in my personal experience of field security towards the end of the forties neither I, nor any of my colleagues, would have seen ourselves as policemen. The mention of an army "captain" with "two pips" on his shoulder is a lapse in accuracy that could easily have been avoided.
But these are minor niggles which cannot ultimately detract from a detailed account of the life of an extraordinary man. Nicholas Booth's success is that he manages to stay neutral about his subject: alive to the man's charm and bravery but never blind to his unpredictable fecklessness. At the end, one is left with an ambivalent view of where Chapman's deepest loyalty lay. Probably it was to himself.
These exploits, even in the highly-charged atmosphere of a major war, would simply be unbelievable were it not for the access the author has had to declassified Intelligence files and to the memories and papers of Chapman's widow. They make for a fast-moving, gripping narrative which benefits from Booth's placing of Chapman's escapades within the wider context of the war.
There are moments where the reader may feel the story doesn't quite hang together. On one page Eddie is said to have passed idle days in Paris on the tourist boats; the following page portrays a Paris of food shortages, disrupted rail services and the impossibility of tourism. There are references to "field security policemen,' but in my personal experience of field security towards the end of the forties neither I, nor any of my colleagues, would have seen ourselves as policemen. The mention of an army "captain" with "two pips" on his shoulder is a lapse in accuracy that could easily have been avoided.
But these are minor niggles which cannot ultimately detract from a detailed account of the life of an extraordinary man. Nicholas Booth's success is that he manages to stay neutral about his subject: alive to the man's charm and bravery but never blind to his unpredictable fecklessness. At the end, one is left with an ambivalent view of where Chapman's deepest loyalty lay. Probably it was to himself.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Hard to put down once started
Once you open the first page you are hooked this is a great read. Chapman must have had balls the size of canon balls. very detailed on the war but after could have been better. Read more
Published 13 days ago by jonathan
Bought as a gift for a friend
I had, myself, read this incredible book and was to mention this to a good friend. He showed immediate interest, so I purchaed it through Amazom for a Christmas present. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Kent Earner
ZIGZAG
If ever a man deserved to be awarded a medal for his wartime work it was Eddie Chapman, sadly the the powers that be never did award him one. Read more
Published 6 months ago by P. J. De Maziere
Good book I am told
My dad loved it, I found it a bit slow and did not bother to finish.
Published 19 months ago by L. Richardson
Walk A Crooked Mile
This book came out around the same time as Agent Zigzag, which draws on the same facts but goes into a lot more detail about Chapman's relationship with his German (Abwehr)... Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2009 by Ian Millard
Conman or Hero?
This is a man with nine lives,gets a Iron Cross from Nazi's despite been Jewish.(Read book to find out why).The only agent to be dropped behind enamy lines twice. Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2008 by WALT JABSCO IV
A Flawed Hero
As the author, Nicholas Booth accurately records, 'his (Eddie Chapman's) own instinct for survival came top of the list. Read more
Published on 12 Aug 2007 by Mr. R. D. M. Kirby
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