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| Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy | 
 enlarge | Author: Ben Macintyre
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £7.98 (100%)
New (34) Collectible (1) from £0.55
Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 3634
Media: Paperback
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0747592837
EAN: 9780747592839
ASIN: 0747592837
Publication Date: June 4, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Gripping story March 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
They say that truth is stranger than fiction. The story of Eddie Chapman, a criminal, turned spy, turned double-agent, is one such example. This is a fascinating read brought brilliantly to life by Ben Macintyre, who has clearly researched his subject thoroughly. I couldn't put this book down. Well worth a read!
Got me back into reading! March 2, 2008
I heard about the release of the Agent Zigzag files on Radio 4 last year, which sparked my interest. I'm not a huge reader but got straight into this book from the first paragraph. The true story is brilliantly brought to life by the author who has outdone himself with the intricate, but relevant research. I enjoyed the book on so many levels - the gripping story; the general background regarding the Intelligence Services in the War and then the psychology and relationships between the many complex characters. I would recommend this book to everyone, but think that it would be an especially good as a present for teenage sons or lapsed readers, like myself.
Couldn't put it down. February 4, 2008
I read this book in a day - it was totally absorbing. Its not the sort of book I usually read as I'm not really "into" WWII, but someone recommended it to me and I'm glad they did.
The suspense is incredible, I was so tempted to flick to the end of the book to see what happened to Chapman at the end - but managed to resist as I knew this would spoil the book. It seems very well researched but even though is a factual book there are no dry or boring bits in it at all. As well as being a great read its given me a much better understandign about events around WWII. I can't wait for the film now!
Fascinating and true spy story that reads like a thriller December 1, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
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.
 Nerves of Steel November 27, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is the story, very well told, of Eddie Chapman, ex(?)-safecracker, Abwehr agent and British Intelligence double agent, who was released from prison in Jersey when it was under German occupation, became a German spy in Britain but went straight to the UK authorities and asked to be played back into occupied Europe, which he was. The German military intelligence people come across as a lot more human than the committee-bound and snobbish British lot; this is true of other similar memoirs of the time. A fascinating tale and one which has been of intermittent public interest since. After WW2, Chapman (who retained respect and liking for his German chief) told his story in books and articles and has been the subject of biography before, both in print and in film (Triple Cross). I have an extensive library in the espionage field and thoroughly recommend this book, despite the odd factual inaccuracy (V-1 rocket engines did NOT stop when the fuel ran out! This is a common misconception of how the targeting/range mechanism worked. In fact a device stopped fuel going to the engine at a pre-decided time based on calculations of range). Buy this book, though.
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