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    Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy
    Unavailable
    Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy
    Unavailable
    Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy
    Ebook512 pages7 hours

    Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy

    By Ben Macintyre

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    From the bestselling author of Operation Mincemeat, now a major film
    SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD

    'Engrossing as any thriller'     Daily Telegraph
    'Superb. Meticulously researched, splendidly told, immensely entertaining' John le Carré
    '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
    _______
    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 suave, courageous and unpredictable, Chapman was by turns a traitor, a hero, a villain and a man of conscience. But, as his spymasters and many lovers often wondered, who was the real Eddie Chapman?

    Ben Macintyre weaves together diaries, letters, photographs, memories and top-secret MI5 files to create an exhilarating account of Britain's most sensational double agent.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateAug 17, 2009
    ISBN9781408806845
    Unavailable
    Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy
    Author

    Ben Macintyre

    Ben MacIntyre is the author of ‘Forgotten Fatherland’, published by Macmillan to great acclaim. He is Paris correspondent on ‘The Times’.

    Read more from Ben Macintyre

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    Reviews for Agent Zigzag

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      What a fantastic intelligence thriller. Eddie Chapman is the right type of person to describe the human condition. Patriotic, clever, vain, self-serving, womanizing, self-indulgent, sensitive, moral and immoral. If there is not a movie out there already, there should be.
    • 4/5
      The Fifth Estate (spies) in World War II for the most part played a larger role in popular imagination than reality. However there were a few who stood apart and lived up to the legends of a James Bond character. Eddie Chapman's files until recently have been locked away in secret government vaults, but through freedom of information, his story has finally gone public. Times corespondent Ben Macintyre has combed through the reports and reconstructed Eddies story with a novelists flair. First serialized in the Times and then published as book in England and the US, it is an addictive page turner, excellent weekend reading that will enthrall and entertain, all the more so because it's so improbably true.
    • 4/5
      Eddie Chapman was a con man, burglar and safe cracker in pre WW II England. As a rsult , he spent time in jail and was constantly being sought by police. In 1939 he was on the island of Jersey serving time in jail for a crime on the Island when the Germans invaded and took control. He was transferred to a jail in Paris where he convinced the Germans that he hated the British and wished to become a spy for them. After a lengthy training and vetting experience, he was parachuted into England where he immediately contacted the British spy system and changed sides. Chapman was an extraordinarily brave and smart individual who lived adventures that would be difficult to believe if you read them in a novel. A fascinating book that was difficult to put down plus one learns a great deal about how the German spy system worked or maybe how and why it did not work very well.
    • 4/5
      Agent Zigzag is the remarkable story of Second World War double agent Eddie Chapman. Along the way Eddie meets an extraordinary cast of characters. Here's a couple of examples:Jasper Maskelyne who was Britain's official illusionist (and a master-illusionist at that) who came from a long line of magicians, alchemists and astronomers. In addition to his marvellous war work he also invented the coin operated toilet door. Praetorius, one of Chapman's Abwehr (German Secret Service) minders. A fan of English folk dancing and who adored Morris dancing. As the war was concluding, Praetorius left the Abwehr, to take up a role as dance instructor to the Wehrmacht.There are many, many more. You couldn't make some of this stuff up. It's incredible. The most incredible thing of all is Eddie's tale: from criminal, to British prisoner, to Nazi prisoner (both in Jersey and Paris), to Nazi agent, and then to British double agent. Eddie's gift was his charm and his cunning. Almost universally liked, he seemed to win over even the most sceptical. This appears to be because he frequently developed real affection for the many people he met, including his Abwehr controllers. He also seemed to genuinely love the various women with whom he became entangled.Ben Macintyre tells Chapman's story with skill, verve, and wit, and does his subject justice. Chapman emerges as a real life, working class James Bond-type character: handsome, charming, and drawn to danger, gambling, fine food, drink, and women. He is a seething mass of contradictions, with one essential attribute, he was the perfect double agent. If you enjoy either good biographies, or larger-than-life characters, then you'll almost certainly enjoy this book.
    • 5/5
      Loved this book. The picaresque subject had vast charisma and charmed almost everyone he met. The author's conclusion regarding the meeting with Churchill is almost certainly wrong, but in all other areas he's probably correct. Was Zigzag a scoundrel? Well, yes, but when it came down to what was most important, he, like Schindler, did the honorable thing. A wonderful tale, and a well written one.
    • 4/5
      Sally Apollon Review 9/5/12 ofAgent Zigzag By Ben McIntyre6 out of 10Setting: The events as they unfolded around the Second World War do provide a compelling story. The settings of occupied France and war-time England are intriguing to me and it was an enlightening read for this reason alone.Language: I did find that the language & style let the book down to an extent. The content was very engaging, but the style didn’t really help move it along, I did have the sense of “wading through” a factual account at times. Given that it was a true story I don’t think it’s impossible to improve the narration; I’ve read far better “Investigative Reporter” style articles in newspapers and magazines many times. I did appreciate however how well-researched the book was, that it came from so many different sources and was the result of much work. It seemed a little sad, however, that the author appeared too exhausted to tell the story any better. Content:The story itself was brilliant the real-life characters did come alive, with their foibles and contradictions. None better that Chapman himself, who was a brilliantly flawed anti-hero in real life. In spite of his weaknesses, you really want him to succeed in his efforts. The scope and scale and sheer length of the war itself is well-illustrated. People made their lives and careers out of it and of course, lives were forever changed as a result. Satisfying to complete, but difficult to get through at times.
    • 4/5
      Entertaining and interesting account of the story of Eddie Chapman, a double agent during WWII for the Nazis and the British MI5. I really enjoyed this book. Small time crook from England gets arrested on Isle of Jersey and is in jail there when it is soon occupied by the Nazis during WWII. He naively makes a deal with them to be a spy. They recruit him, but then as soon as he's on his first mission in England, he goes to the British and makes a deal with them. A real operator but endearing in his own way. Good inside view of this side of WWII. Very easy listening on audio and John Lee was excellent as the narrator.
    • 4/5
      Agent Zigzag is an insanely true story - a WWII yarn to rival The Dirty Dozen or anything else Hollywood has ever put up. Propelled by a charismatic mountebank dancing between the Nazis, the Allies, and a seeming bevy of women, it still manages to sneak in some interesting thoughts about the nature of patriotism, war, and relationships. Eddie Chapman is picked up by the Nazis whilst languishing in a Jersey prison cell. Trained up to be an uber-spy, he's dropped off into England - and the creative, mature spy network of MI5. The problem with double agents, though, is that they so easily multiple into triple agents, quadruple agents, and so on. Whose side is Chapman really on, and which side is going to call his bluff first?Macintyre has made a history of publishing accessible novels dealing with eccentric corners of WWII, and in doing so, exposing smaller narratives running parallel or in contradiction to the dominant discourse.Agent ZigZag is no exception. Aside from the genuinely exciting particulars of the plot, Macintyre calls out the contribution made by spies in general, and MI5 in particular, during the course of WWII. His research is deep and seemed impeccable to me, and it illustrates the vital importance of intelligence, and the subtleties of doing it well.Chapman is not the only interesting character in Agent Zigzag, far from it. The unique, talented, and tragic individuals - both British and Nazi - that populate the book hint at a plethora of equally fascinating stories hovering at the wings, and it gives the book a depth that these kind of histories don't always achieve.Macintyre's affection for Chapman, the era, and the quirky peripheries of war is obvious, and quite infectious. Despite the incredible seriousness, the often jocular tone and the sheer audacity of Chapman's exploits stop this from being a heavy read.And yet, for those looking for something deeper, it's here. Chapman was hated by his country in some ways; how much did he actually love it? What impact did class have on the military apparatus of both sides during the course of the war - and in the treatment of Chapman? There's some interesting questions hiding out under this rousing story.All together, Agent ZigZag is a very well put together book, the most amazing thing is that it's true.
    • 4/5
      Eddie Chapman was a rather rakish thief whose specialty was breaking into safes using explosives. He happened to be serving time in a prison on the island of Jersey when the Nazis invaded it, got stuck there in occupied territory after his release, and only managed to avoid spending the rest of the war in yet another prison by offering to go back to Britain as a spy for the Germans. Assuming they paid him, of course. They took him up on it, trained him in espionage, and parachuted him into England, where he promptly contacted the authorities and offered to work as a double agent, despite the fact that he was still wanted for numerous crimes there. They took him up on it, too, and so back and forth he went...This is a fascinating story. Kind of a crazy story, even, full of larger-than-life characters and improbable situations and odd coincidences. If it were presented as fiction, I'd probably find it entertaining but too far-fetched, which I guess just goes to show you that the truth really is stranger.
    • 5/5
      I won't go so far as to say that this is "the best book ever written," as one reviewer on the back cover of the paperback claimed, but I did enjoy it more than any other book I've read about WWII. It's a cross between Ian Fleming and Hogan's Heroes, and it's based on declassified MI5 files. A great read, and especially satisfying if you stick with it from the beginning to the last paragraph. Terrific ending.
    • 4/5
      Journalist Ben McIntyre has cornered the market on WWII British espionage histories, utilizing a wealth of freshly declassified and released records. Fast upon the heels of finishing his Double Cross, I picked up this remarkable story of Eddie Chapman -- one of Britain's most valuable double agents. From lowly beginnings, Chapman eases into life as a gentleman criminal, leading a safecracking ring and running various scams. Nabbed on the Isle of Jersey, he is unfortunately incarcerated when the island comes under German occupation. A series of bizarre twists lead to his offering his services as an agent to Nazi Germany. Chapman is carefully trained at a French chateau in a variety of espionage skills, including coding, explosives and weaponry. With much invested in him, Germany is counting on him to parachute back into England, charm his way into a variety of circles, blow up key locations and relay important intelligence. He could quickly become their key espionage asset. The enormous surprise is that he manages to accomplish all this -- while acting as a double agent for the British. Chapman is by turns charming, devious, brave, venal and enormously attractive to women. Read this book and meet the real life version of James Bond.
    • 3/5
      An interesting read about espionage in the Second World War, showing that it wasn't always about black and white heroes and villains. A fascinating insight into the methods of intelligence services on both sides.
    • 5/5
      Was he a spy for the British? Or a spy for the Germans? Or both? Or perhaps Eddie Chapman was just doing his best to survive the dangerous WWII years. Chapman's escapades were so unbelievable, they have to be true.
    • 4/5
      A true fascinating story of a charming small-time British criminal who turns double-agent during WWII, constantly reinvents himself depending on the situation and what he wanted at any given moment.
    • 5/5
      Book reviews in magazines really do work - I saw this in a history journal, and it piqued my interest. An unbelievable story of an incredible man - as Lt. Col. 'Tin Eye' Stephens, head of interrogation for captured enemy spies, said of Chapman's story, 'in fiction it would be rejected as improbable' - but this double agent is more exciting and vivid than James Bond, with his passion for adventure and women and his background as a thief and con artist. MacIntyre's style is concise and dry, but he is obviously fond of his subject, and the reader soon understands why. An excellent biography.
    • 4/5
      Eric Chapman is a young career criminal. He's sitting in a jail in Jersey when the Nazis take over in World War II. Eric gets the Germans interested in his proposal to become a spy for them, and is whisked off to an Abwehr training camp in occupied France. The Germans question his loyalty to their cause, but after a long period of testing and interrogation they decide to trust him. What they don't know is that Mr. Chapman is a sociopath who is using them to keep out of jail. He is parachuted back into England where he immediately tells British intelligence that he has been sent over as a German spy. So now he becomes a double agent.Eric is a charming fellow, and develops friendships in both countries' intelligence services. It never bothers him that he is betraying people. It also doesn't bother him that he is involved in serious romances with women in England and Norway. He manages to convince his German minders that he has blown up a British airplane factory, and then makes his way back to France where he joins his German friends and has a great time before being sent to Norway.While in retrospect Mr. Chapman doesn't achieve an awful lot as a spy, he does enjoy his new life. The Germans are fond of him as are most of his British minders. He has a fiancé in England, but thinks nothing of carrying on another romance in Norway. He even engages in a few criminal activities while spying. When he finally is dismissed from the intelligence service he happily goes back to his life of crime. He found himself in court from time to time, but never was convicted of anything. As an honorary crime correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph he warned readers to steer clear of people like him.You can read this book as history, but I think you will find it even more interesting as entertainment. In real life people warmed to this engaging crook, and you develop some affection for him while reading this book. Just don't buy a used car from him.
    • 5/5
      A fascinating true story of a British double-agent who completely fooled the Abwehr into thinking he was working for them. Extremely well-researched and written, much from material which has only recently come to light, due to its sensitive nature. It has also been authenticated directly with some of those involved and their families. Fascinating.
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book about the exploits of Eddie Chapman, the WWII double agent.It is a well researched and written book about a small time crook double crossing the Germans to considerably help out the allies during the war. Chapman was an interesting chap and despite his criminal beginnings there he showed great passion and loyalty to Britain. Overall a good informative read.
    • 4/5
      Very interesting story. Told with all the adventure and suspense that this real life character displayed.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. Eddie Chapman was the most extraordinary and complicated man, crook, lover, self-aggrandiser, explosives expert and double agent.Clearly, nobody really knew him. The book reads almost like a thriller, but also really brings to life a whole aspect of the war and the secret services that I had never come across before.
    • 3/5
      This was a fascinating read. It is documentary like and tells the story of Eddie Chapman, and how he came to work for both the German and British Secret Services during WWII.It is factual, and gives some inkling of the thinking of two agencies with regards to running an agent, and to the motivation of Chapman himself, who was, basical, a hood to begin with.I must say, regardless of his motivations or money raising exploits, he was very brave to do what he did.
    • 3/5
      Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Here's the story of a handsome, charismatic lowlife thief. He's arrested by the Nazis and then recruited as an agent. Sent to Britain, he changes gears and offers to work for the Brits against the Germans. So we've got a real double agent playing a very dangerous game. The first two-thirds of the book read like a novel; the last third tails off, and there is very little suspense. So it's a mixed bag, but still worth it if you enjoy learning the techniques actual spies use as well as the techniques to apprehend intelligence agents. Also good for its descriptions of wartime London, France, Norway and other venues.
    • 5/5
      One of the most entertaining nonfiction books I have ever read. Eddie Chapman remains a rogue throughout, but MacIntyre makes him sympathetic to the reader. He lived a life few of us will ever have the chance to.
    • 5/5
      An amazing tale, which is well-researched. It held my attention and I read it in a single day. Eddie Chapman was a British criminal who served is a German agent and a British double agent during World War 2. The mind of the double agent ZigZag is summarized by one of his British handlers, Laurie Marshall, quite nicely: "He is endeavouring, perhaps for the first time to understand himself and the meaning of life... During the last three years he has discovered thought, H. G. Wells, literature, altruistic motives and beauty. Although he does not regret his past life he feels he has no place in society and it would be better if he dies - but not needlessly. He wishes to make his own retributions for bad things he has done. He cannot be satisfied that he has done something of value unless he actual performs some controversial action himself."
    • 4/5
      An extraordinary story whose facts and events add proof to the cliche that truth really is somethings stranger than fiction.
    • 4/5
      Well written real spy story of Eddie Chapman, who was both on the the British and German payroll.
    • 4/5
      It's not often you get to read a lively and entertaining history book, but Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre fits the bill. Eddie Chapman was Agent Zigzag in WWII, a dedicated British criminal (safe-cracking, break-ins, etc.) who became a double agent. He was trained as a German spy, only to immediately turn himself into British authorities upon parachuting into a field near London, and he then became an agent instead for the Allies. As book photos confirm, he was handsome, and someone whom a wide variety of personalities found charming, from staid government officials to spy trainers to other spies. His charm also paved the way for a number of romances, with Eddie insisting on female companionship at every port of call.Besides following the remarkable true life exploits of this rogue, I enjoyed reading about the many related deceptions perpetrated on the unsuspecting Germans by British intelligence, from the well-known Enigma code-breaking advantage of knowing what the Germans were transmitting, including between their dangerous U-boats, to the complicated misdirection ploy of convincing the Germans the Allies were beginning their assault at Calais, not Normandy, to the faked destruction of a critical plane factory in which Eddie (and a magician!) played a key role.Eddie's talent for lying repeated served him well, in playing roles and withstanding interrogation. He had a well-earned reputation for accomplishing the assigned mission, with the warning that you'd better be sure to watch your wallet as he was carrying it out. He couldn't resist adding extracurricular fleecing of one sort or another. From a lower class background, he became well-read, and fluent in French and German, and acquired noteworthy expertise in explosives. One section of the book has Eddie and Britain's upper class head man for explosives sharing a gleeful time discussing different ways to blow things up, like two little kids becoming best friends.Eddie Chapman thrived on danger and adrenaline, and had no shortage of bravery. At one point, he was so convincing to the Germans that they awarded him a medal. Meanwhile, his multiple romances in different countries were deeply felt on both sides, and who he ended up marrying both surprised me and made me laugh. For an improbable slice of history served up in delicious fashion, you need look no further. Four stars.
    • 5/5
      I wish like hell there had been no war—I begin to wish I had never started this affair. To spy and cheat on one's friends it's not nice it's dirty. However, I started this affair and I will finish it.I haven't read a book by Ben Macintyre that I didn't enjoy. When I picked this out of my tbr jar I knew I was in for a true story so odd that it would make a great spy novel/movie. Eddie Chapman was quite the character and it was a pleasure reading about him.At times it is hard to believe that a man like Eddie could and would become a double agent for England during WWII. You wouldn't expect a criminal to have been allowed such an important and dangerous role but besides being a criminal Eddie was also loyal and had a charisma that would draw others to him. I grew to really like Eddie while reading this and felt horrible for him towards the end with all that Ryde threw against him, even though I knew most of it was Eddie's fault.Reading one of Macintyre's books is always an experience. With this book, and the others by Macintyre that I have read, I didn't get a dry telling of history but rather a colorful telling of the events and the people behind them. There are always these wonderfully quirky people highlighted and some hilarious events discussed throughout Macintyre's books.I would highly recommend this book if you want to read about a double agent unlike no other.
    • 4/5
      I thought this was a great book, a very engrossing story, skillfully told. Eddie Chapman, whose codename was in fact Zigzag (I thought it was made up for the title) was a charming incorrigible who turned into a cunning double agent for the British during World War II. The stories of espionage are really remarkable and make James Bond seem not nearly so outlandish--the MI staged a bombing on an aircraft factory to deceive the Germans (thanks to the talents of a master magician!). I couldn't put it down, would recommend it to anyone who likes spy, espionage thrillers.
    • 5/5
      Eddie Chapman was a ladies' man and safe cracker who ended up in prison in Jersey shortly before the German occupation of the island. In an attempt to get off the island, he offered himself up as a spy, and, after a short stay in a concentration camp, was recruited as such. The Germans spent six months training Chapman and then dropped him via parachute in England, where he promptly contacted the authorities and offered himself as a double agent.Chapman's life story is so wildly improbable that it would never work as fiction. As nonfiction, however, it is fascinating and completely absorbing. Macintyre based much of his book on relatively recently released MI5 documents, as well as interviews with people involved with Chapman during the '30s and '40s, but his writing is almost novelistic in tone. I am intentionally leaving out much of the story above, but to anyone interested in spies and WWII espionage, or really anyone interested in a good, entertainingly told story, I say read this book. Now.