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    Zigzag: The Incredible Wartime Exploits of Double Agent Eddie Chapman
    Zigzag: The Incredible Wartime Exploits of Double Agent Eddie Chapman
    Zigzag: The Incredible Wartime Exploits of Double Agent Eddie Chapman
    Audiobook15 hours

    Zigzag: The Incredible Wartime Exploits of Double Agent Eddie Chapman

    Written by Nicholas Booth

    Narrated by Roger Davis

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    About this audiobook

    The most remarkable double agent of World War II, Eddie Chapman was witty, handsome, and charming. Too bad he was also a con man, womanizer, and safe-cracker. To the British, though, he was known as ZigZag, one of MI5's most valuable agents. To the Abwehr-German military intelligence-he was known as Fritzchen (Little Fritz), and was believed to be one of their most valued and trusted spies. For three long years, Eddie played this dangerous double game, daily risking life and limb to help the Allies win the war. He was so charming that his German handler, Baron Stefan von Gröning, thought of Fritzchen as the son he never had. The Germans even awarded him the Iron Cross for spying for the Reich! They sent him to Britain, with the mission to blow up the De Havilland aircraft factory. How he and MI5 convinced the Germans that he had accomplished his mission stands as one of history's greatest acts of counterintelligence.

    Until now, Eddie Chapman's extraordinary double life has never been told, thwarted by the Official Secrets Act. Now all the evidence-including Eddie's MI5 file-has finally been released, paving the way for Nicholas Booth's enthralling account of Eddie's long and extraordinary life.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 25, 2017
    ISBN9781515989820
    Author

    Nicholas Booth

    Nicholas Booth worked for Astronomy Now magazine, wrote about science for British newspapers, and was a technology editor on The Times (London). He is the author of true-life detective stories about spies and fraudsters, including Zigzag: The Incredible Wartime Exploits of Double Agent Eddie Chapman, published by Arcade. He lives in Cheshire, England, with his wife and their two cats.

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    Reviews for Zigzag

    3/5

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    • 3/5
      Interesting narrative about a little known spy during the second world war. Much context was provided during the first quarter of the book which was rather slow-developing, since the protagonist was in jail, but once the war began, it picked up the pace. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys little known stories of WWII.
    • 1/5
      So very boring. Protagonist unimpressive and overrated. Utterly pointless book. Couldn't finish it. Not recommended.
    • 4/5
      This work is very well researched, and the writing is excellent.

      Where I take issue with the story is in the motivations of its protagonist, Eddie Chapman. From a pre-war life of petty crime, and complete disregard for civility, we are asked to believe that Chapman (while languishing in a hell-hole of a jail in the Channel Islands) has had a crisis of conscience, and offers himself up as fodder for British Intelligence. But to do so, he must first get himself recruited by the Nazis' intelligence arm, the Abwehr.

      Considering Chapman's behaviour leading up to the fateful moment when he offers his talents (among which is an active familiarity with explosives) to German Intelligence immediately after they overrun the Channel Islands, the intelligent and discerning reader cannot help but question his motives. In fact, all the way through the book, it is evident that Chapman's sole motivation is either to get himself out of a bad situation (as in the Jersey jail cell), or to enrich himself (by going back to Germany after he has been apprehended by British Intelligence, and then Chapman patriotically offers himself up as a double agent). Of course, he brags to all and sundry that the Germans owe him a king's ransom for "blowing up" the factory producing DeHavilland's mighty Mosquito fighter-bomber.

      In every incident throughout the war, Chapman shows himself to be nothing more than an opportunist. Yes, it is likely that he did aid British Intelligence in a couple of minor ways, but it seems highly likely that Eddie Chapman's main concern and motivation was nothing more than to live a life of luxury and self-importance, without regard for the consequences.

    • 4/5
      ZigZag is the true story of Eddie Chapman, a double agent for the British in World War II. His early life as a career criminal, was interrupted when he was captured on the Isle of Jersey, by the invading Germans. After some time in jail, he convinced the German's he would spy on England for them. He was trained in espionage and dropped by parachute into England , where his first act was to turn himself in and offer to work for the British as a double agent against the Germans. His life is a series of twists and turns, always searching for the next adventure, always crossing the line from petty criminal to conman, from spy to counterspy. A well written and thoroughly researched book. Sometimes it is hard for us or Eddie to tell which road he has chosen to travel.