Ben Macintyre
Hardcover | Pages: 364 pages Rating: 4.09 | 11620 Users | 1136 Reviews
Define About Books Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
| Title | : | Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal |
| Author | : | Ben Macintyre |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 364 pages |
| Published | : | September 4th 2007 by Crown |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. History. Biography. War. World War II. Spy Thriller. Espionage |
Interpretation Conducive To Books Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
Eddie Chapman was a charming criminal, a con man, and a philanderer. He was also one of the most remarkable double agents Britain has ever produced. Inside the traitor was a man of loyalty; inside the villain was a hero. The problem for Chapman, his spymasters, and his lovers was to know where one persona ended and the other began. In 1941, after training as a German spy in occupied France, Chapman was parachuted into Britain with a revolver, a wireless, and a cyanide pill, with orders from the Abwehr to blow up an airplane factory. Instead, he contacted MI5, the British Secret Service. For the next four years, Chapman worked as a double agent, a lone British spy at the heart of the German Secret Service who at one time volunteered to assassinate Hitler for his countrymen. Crisscrossing Europe under different names, all the while weaving plans, spreading disinformation, and, miraculously, keeping his stories straight under intense interrogation, he even managed to gain some profit and seduce beautiful women along the way. The Nazis feted Chapman as a hero and awarded him the Iron Cross. In Britain, he was pardoned for his crimes, becoming the only wartime agent to be thus rewarded. Both countries provided for the mother of his child and his mistress. Sixty years after the end of the war, and ten years after Chapman’s death, MI5 has now declassified all of Chapman’s files, releasing more than 1,800 pages of top secret material and allowing the full story of Agent Zigzag to be told for the first time. A gripping story of loyalty, love, and treachery, Agent Zigzag offers a unique glimpse into the psychology of espionage, with its thin and shifting line between fidelity and betrayal.Declare Books During Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
| Original Title: | Agent Zigzag The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Betrayer, Hero, Spy |
| ISBN: | 0307353400 (ISBN13: 9780307353405) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating About Books Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
Ratings: 4.09 From 11620 Users | 1136 ReviewsCriticize About Books Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
This was the fascinating true story of a criminal turned German spy turned British spy. Rounding up to 5 stars.War was coming, everyone said so, but the dining room of the Hotel de la Plage was a place of pure peace that sunny Sunday. Beyond the golden beach, the waves flickered among a scatter of tiny islands, as Eddie and Betty ate trifle off plates with smart blue crests. Eddie was halfway through telling another funny story when he froze. A group of men in overcoats and brown hats had entered the restaurant and one was now in urgent conversations with the headwaiter. Before Betty could speak, Eddie
One of those nonfiction books that would not be believable as fiction, this is the story of Eddie Chapman, a criminal who became one of Britain's best double agents. He was a hero using the traits that made him so successful a rogue and scoundrel. Trained by the Third Reich in occupied France to parachute into his home country to blow up a warplane factory, Chapman instead contacted MI5, the British Secret Service. For the rest of the war he worked for Britain, traveling across Europe spreading
Do you like books about espionage, double-dealing, and clever Allied agents who fooled the Axis and ruled? If you do, you probably already know that Ben McIntyre writes wonderful histories of espionage and counter-espionage, usually set behind the battle lines in World War II. Who was "Agent Zigzag"? How does one man do the things he did, and get away with them? This is one of the author's best, and not to be missed.
An interesting tale about a British double agent in WWII. Although the agent, Eddie Chapman, was thief and criminal low-life, he nevertheless charmed many people, including people in German and British intelligence.I listened to this book on Audible, so the numerous digressions and backstories, didn't bother me. Not Macintyre's best book in this vein--I thought A Spy Among Friends (Kim Philby) and Operation Mincemeat (D-Day deception) were better, but it is definitely worth a read/listen if you
This agent was masterful at being himself. Sounds confusing? He was. And his story is too. Primarily because he was such an actor and so much a chameleon by nature that the core man was never "fake".It's sounds impossible to have the verve and the bad boy nature to this extent over such a constantly transient life. But Chapman lived it and in such a way that a decent goal in wartime became the real, rather than endless prison sentences.My own experience of enjoying this one? It was good and the
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